Draft:Pijush Basu

Pijush Basu (1 January 1929 – 25 October 1980) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and editor known for his work primarily in Bengali cinema. Beginning his career in 1956, as a background artist in Tapan Sinha's Tonsil, he worked as his assistant for 5 years. He made his directorial debut with Anushtup Chhanda (1964) and later wrote and directed Subhas Chandra (1966), the biopic of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. His frequent collaboration with Uttam Kumar since 1962, brought him into the limelight.

Pijush Basu
Born	(1929-01-01)1 January 1929 Tura, Meghalaya, India
Died	25 October 1980(1980-10-25) (aged 51) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Cause of death	Cardiac arrest
Citizenship	Indian
Education	B.Sc from Rajabazar Science College
Alma mater	University of Calcutta
Occupations	Film director Screenwriter Editor
Years active	1956–1980

Personal life and background

Pijush Basu was born in Tura, Meghalaya. His empathy for films began from his student life, when he earned an B.Sc at the Rajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta.

Career

Beginning as an assistant

Basu was involved into stage dramas and theatres since his childhood. In 1956, he got a chance to perform in a small role in Tapan Sinha's Tonsil, starring Bhanu Bandyopadhyay, Jahor Roy and Madhabi Mukherjee. Then he started working under Sinha as assistant director in Kabuliwala (1957), Louho Kawpat (1958), Kaala Maati (1958) and Kshudhita Pashan (1960). Besides, he also made his debut as a screenwriter in the Sinha directorial Kaala Maati (1958), the first ever Bengali film which dealt with the lifestyles of coal mine workers; and later followed by Kshudhita Pashan and Jhinder Bondi (1961) where he again appeared as screenwriter.

Debut as director

In 1962, Basu received the first oppurtunity to make his directorial debut with Shiulibari, starring Uttam Kumar, Arundhati Devi and Chhabi Biswas in leads. In spite of its release during the Sino-Indian War (1962), it became a hit at the box office and marked the first of the frequent collaborations between Kumar and Basu. His next was Anushtup Chhanda, which commercially unsucceeded but received the National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film. In 1966, he directed Subhas Chandra, the biopic of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose which was a both critical and commercial success. He took at least 2 years to write and direct the film after a complete research on Bose's life. The film gained a cult status in Bengali cinema and Basu received the BFJA Award in 1966 for Best Indian Films and Best Screenplay.

Collaboration with Uttam Kumar

For the second time, Basu collaborated with Uttam Kumar in the action thriller Duti Mon (1970), where Kumar appeared in a dual role. It began the now-obligatory style of depicting wealth and social class. The same year he directed Swarna Shikhar Prangane, a slice of life film based on Samaresh Basu's story of the same name. The film was first offered to Kumar for the lead, who declined to do it then and the next year, he appeared under Basu's direction in Jiban Jigyasha (1971), a courtroom drama co-starring Supriya Devi, Montu Banerjee and Tarun Kumar. It was the second film in Kumar's career where he appeared as a lawyer after Bicharak (1959). Their next venture was Bikele Bhorer Phool (1974), in which Basu introduced Sumitra Mukherjee as a leading actress in Bengali cinema.

Since the massive success of Duti Mon (1970), Basu collaborated with Uttam Kumar in his each directorials. In 1975, he directed Kumar in the political thriller Bagh Bondi Khela. Based on Prafulla Roy's novel, the film showed Kumar portraying a corrupt political leader as well as the mastermind of state-sponsored terrorism and human trafficking. In spite of Basu's receiving appraisals for presenting Kumar unconventionally, the film didn't perform well during its release because the audiences couldn't accept their matinee idol in an antagonistic role with much brutal approach, but it became a super hit when it was re-released in theatres. The same year he directed Sanyasi Raja, a drama film based on the Bhawal court case (1920), went to be a blockbuster. It is hailed to be one of the best performances in Uttam Kumar's entire career and later remade into Telugu as Raja Ramesh (1977), which starred Akkineni Nageshwara Rao in the lead. The national award winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherji felicitated Sanyasi Raja in Ek Je Chhilo Raja (2018), again dealing with the Bhawal case.

Banhishikha (1976), the seventh collaboration between Basu and Kumar, was a science fiction action film for the first time in Bengal, co-starring Ranjit Mallick and Supriya Devi. It was Kumar's solo hit in the year 1976 and was based on a short story written by Dr. Nihar Ranjan Gupta. His next film Sabyasachi (1977), based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's famous novel Pather Dabi released on the 100th birth anniversary of Chattopadhyay. The action-oriented film portrayed Kumar as a freedom fighter who indulges the Indian revolutionaries to revolt against the British raj. The same year, his next directorials were the period drama Rajbangsha, having Kumar in a dual roles; and Sister, a hostage thriller starring Supriya Devi and Utpal Dutt, had Kumar in an extended cameo.

Basu marked his 10th collaboration with Kumar in the vigilante action film Dhanraj Tamang (1978), where Kumar played the role of a tea estate worker seeking revenge of the rape of his wife done by his boss, as well as the assistant manager of the estate. Released on the auspicous occasion of Durga Puja, the film became all time blockbuster and the larger than life personna of Kumar, was well-received by the masses. His next film was Brajabuli (1979), an out-and-out comedy with a huge starcast consisting of Kumar, Sabitri Chatterjee, Dilip Roy, Kalyani Mondal, Rabi Ghosh, Chinmoy Roy, Tarun Kumar and Nimu Bhowmik. In 1980, Basu directed Dui Prithibi, a multi-starrer drama produced under Uttam Kumar's foundation Shilpi Sangshad. This film was made to extended hands upon poor artists and technicians and just like that the all the top artists worked without any fees. The huge amount of money came from the blockbuster box office of the film, was given away among the technicians involved with the film industry. His next was Pankhiraj (1980), an actioner with an ensemble cast including Kumar, Soumitra Chatterjee, Utpal Dutt, Samit Bhanja and Santu Mukherjee.

In 1980, Basu was co-directing Kalankini Kankabati along with Kumar, which starred Kumar himself with Sharmila Thakur, Mithun Chakraborty and Supriya Devi in leads. But during the shoot of Salil Dutta's Ogo Bodhu Shundori, Kumar breathed his last on 24 July 1980. Then Kalankini Kankabati was going to be shelved without Kumar. Then some of the parts in the film were shot using Kumar's body double under Basu's directions. But the same year on 25 October, Basu died due to cardiac arrest during the post-production of the film. The next year, the film was released and was dedicated to the memorials of both Kumar and Basu.

Filmography

As director

Year	Film	Director	Screenplay	Notes	Ref
1962	Shiulibari	Yes	No (The screenplay was by Tapan Sinha)	Debut as director; based on a short story by Subodh Ghosh
1964	Anushtup Chhanda	Yes	Yes	Received National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film
1966	Subhas Chandra	Yes	Yes	Based on the life of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
1970	Duti Mon	Yes	Yes	Also storywriter
	Swarna Shikhar Prangane	Yes	Yes	Based on a novel by Samaresh Basu
1971	Jiban Jigyasha	Yes	Yes	Also storywriter
1974	Bikele Bhorer Phool	Yes	Yes	Based on a novel by Samaresh Basu
1975	Sanyasi Raja	Yes	Yes	Based on the Bhawal court case (1920)
	Bagh Bondi Khela	Yes	Yes	Based on a novel by Prafulla Roy
1976	Banhishikha	Yes	Yes	Based on a novel by Dr. Nihar Ranjan Gupta
1977	Sabyasachi	Yes	Yes	Based on Pather Dabi by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
	Rajbangsha	Yes	Yes	Also storywriter
	Sister	Yes	Yes	Based on a short story by Tirtha Chatterjee
1978	Dhanraj Tamang	Yes	Yes	Based on a short story by Charuchandra Chakraborty
1979	Brajabuli	Yes	Yes	Based on a short story by Gour Kishore Ghosh
1980	Dui Prithibi	Yes	Yes	Based on Sheet Grishwe Onek Ritu by Sounik Gupta
	Pankhiraj	Yes	Yes	Also storywriter
1981	Kalankini Kankabati	Yes	Yes	Based on a novel by Dr. Nihar Ranjan Gupta

As assistant director and screenwriter

Year	Film	Assistant director	Screenwriter	Actor
1956	Tonsil	Yes	No	Yes
1957	Kabuliwala	Yes	No	No
1958	Louho Kawpat	Yes	No	No
	Kala Mati	Yes	Yes	No
1959	Kshaniker Atithi	Yes	No	No
1960	Kshudhito Pashan	Yes	Yes	No
1961	Jhinder Bondi	Yes	Yes	No
1973	Roudro Chhaya	No	Yes	No