Legendary actor-director Sushil Majumdar has the distinction of being trained in acting by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore himself. Majumdar w...
Legendary actor-director Sushil Majumdar has the
distinction of being trained in acting by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore himself.
Majumdar whose 120th birth anniversary is on December 22 left an indelible mark
behind in the film industry with the 37 odd films he directed both in Bengali
and Hindi over a period of 50 years.
Of these, 34 were hits/ superhits which include
"Rikta", "Abhayer Biye", "Jogajog", "Ratrir Tapasya", "Bhanga
Gara", "Hospital", "Muktisnan" and "Lal
Patthar".
Majumdar was very forthright about why he made
films. "I make films for the cinegoer, what they wish or desire to
see."
The eldest of two brothers and four sisters,
Majumdar was born to freedom fighters Basanta Kumar Majumdar and Hemprova
Majumdar on December 22, 1905, in his Kashinagar village home, Comilla in
Bangladesh. After his initial schooling in Shantiniketan from 1912 to 1921
under the guidance of Rabindranath Tagore, he joined the non-cooperation
movement.
At Shantiniketan, he was a
regular member of the cultural group there where he participated in
"Falguni" the play staged by Gurudev in Jorasanko in 1916.
Having completed Matriculation from National
Council of Education in 1922 after coming out of jail he went on to study at
Kashi Vidyapeeth. He then joined Jadavpur College of Engineering.
Barely out of college, Majumdar signed up as an actor in the Tagore Film
Company which had just been set up by Abanimohan Tagore in 1928. He worked as
an actor and general assistant for Bengal Movies and Talkies which produced a
silent film "The Dawn of Life" where he had to do all sorts of odd
jobs. The following year he joined Barua Pictures as an assistant director to
PC Barua.
He directed the first silent two-reeler comedy in India "Ekada" in
1931, his first independent assignment and Devaki Bose's "Nishir
Daak". It was the last silent film made in Bengal.
The first full-length talkie he directed was a social drama
"Tarubala". After the success of his second film
"Muktisnan", his third film "Rikta" starring Ahindra
Chowdhury, Chhaya Devi and himself had a jubilee run in 1939. "Jogajog"
a musical comedy starring Kanan Devi and "Hospital" featuring Ashok
Kumar and Suchitra Sen were super hits.
"Ratrir Tapasya" released in 1952 in which his wife Arati Majumdar
was the heroine was a superhit. The duo teamed up again for "Bhanga
Gara" in 1954 where Arati got the best actress award from the BFJA.
Majumdar also went to Bombay to make "Chaar Ankhen" in 1941 with
Leela Chitnis and Jairaj in the lead and "Begum" in 1944
starring Ashok Kumar and Naseem Banu. Raj Kapoor was Majumdar's assistant
director in "Chaar Ankhen'. The Showman always maintained that Majumdar
was his "guru".
Majumdar returned to Bombay to remake his 1963
success "Lal Patthar" in Hindi under FC Mehra's Eagle Films with Raaj
Kumar, Hema Malini, Rakhee and Vinod Mehra in the star cast. Hema Malini who
played a negative character in the film admits that "Lal Patthar" is
a landmark in her career.
Majumdar also acted in a number of films among them the Uttam-Victor starrer
"Dui Prithibi" and Satyajit Ray's "Chiriyakhana''.
Satyajit Ray considered him to be the
"great actor in Bengali cinema".
Majumdar was last seen in "Jiban" a 1987
remake of "Anand'' starring Tapas Paul. He passed away on March 19, 1989.
No comments