Subrata Sen
Encyclopedia
Subrata Sen (born 29 May 1963) is a critically acclaimed Bengali
Indian film director
, writer
, novelist and producer
.
, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta
.
After a brief stint in a bank as an officer, he joined journalism in 1987 in Anandabazar Patrika
, the largest circulated daily in India. He shifted from Anandabazar Patrika
to The Statesman
in 1992, then he joined Banglalive dot com, an internet magazine where he remained until he made his first film Ek Je Achhe Kanya (The Girl) in 2001. His wife Parongama Sen is a Physicist of international repute.
. The movie also saw the debut performance of Konkona Sen Sharma
and earned an entry into the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, besides winning the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for a debut director.
His follow-up film, 2002's ...And They Dared to Dream known as Swapner Feriwala
in Bengali—while commercially not as successful as The Girl, earned Sen some shelf-life in international arena, including an inclusion into that year's Karlovy Vary Film Festival line-up, proving Sen to be an emerging maverick of Bengali and Indian cinema.
Sen's third movie Vacation Blues, known as Nil Nirjane
in Bengali was made in 2003 and was the first digital movie to be made in India. The movie became a cult among the young population in Bengal, despite attracting flak from orthodox critics because of a liplock scene between two young females. The film won the Best Experimental Film award at the Down Under Film Festival, Australia.
Sen based his fourth and fifth movies on Bengali literature. His fourth movie Hotath Neerar Jonnyo
(Suddenly for Nira) was made in 2005, based on a short story by Sunil Gangopadhyay. The movie faced problems from the Indian Censor Board because of some reported explicit scenes and was commercially released only after a few shots were deleted.
Sen's fifth movie Bibar
(Calcutta Unabashed) made in 2006 was based on a controversial Bengali classic by Samaresh Basu. The film won the best actor and best actress awards at the Osian Cinefan, New Delhi—the international film festival of Asian films.
Sen's films are said to be the beginning of "urban genre" of Bengali films and are now course material in plenty of film schools in India. Though not as famous as his seniors beyond his home-state Bengal, Sen is the maverick filmmaker of Indian Cinema whose work, as felt in Karlovy Vary Film Festival catalogue, strongly resembles that of Pedro Almodóvar
.
Sen never had any formal training in film-making. He describes making of Ek Je Achhe Kanya his first training ground. However, as a child, he came in close contact with Satyajit Ray
, the master Indian filmmaker, while writing for Sandesh, a children's magazine which the maestro edited. It was probably Ray's over towering influence in childhood, which initiated Sen into delving in filmmaking.
But despite his close association with Ray, Sen has consciously avoided Ray's style of filmmaking. "Ray is a fixation of Indian Filmmakers. We have to get out of his influence and make movies which are different", he says.
Besides Ray, the person whose style influenced Sen the most was Jean-Luc Godard
. "We have to break all forms and all moulds to make Bengali film survive. Godard is our ideal", is Sen's frank admission. Incidentally Subrata Sen's second film, Swapner Feriwala, is a tribute to Godard.
His first film, "Ek Je Achhe Kanya" has been acknowledged by the Jadavpur University
as the "First New wave Film" for the young generation in the post Satyajit Ray era. The film has been included in the University's Film Studies course from 2002.
and Hotath Neerar Jonnyo
. Bibar
was based on famous Bengali writer Samaresh Basu
's novel. Where as Hotath Neerar Jonnyo was adapted from a short story of another famous writer Sunil Gangopadhyay
.
"Am a normal human being. Take me or leave me."
And the normal human being said, "Let there be light, sound and action..."
"Cinema is a way of life but life is not only about cinema. A filmmaker now, having done five movies and three television films in the past six years, but it's not only cinema that holds my interests.
Started off long ago as a journalist with ABP, changed to Statesman and worked in Kolkata and Delhi for long years. In 2001 my first movie Ek Je Aachhe Kanya, (which was Konkona Sensharma's debut movie too) was released and suddenly I turned a filmmaker."
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
Indian film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, novelist and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
.
Early life
Subrata Sen was born in Kolkata in 1963. He went to South Point High School and graduated in Physics from Presidency CollegePresidency College
Presidency College could refer to the following Indian institutions:* Presidency College, Chennai* Presidency College, Kolkata*Presidency College, Bangalore...
, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
.
After a brief stint in a bank as an officer, he joined journalism in 1987 in Anandabazar Patrika
Anandabazar Patrika
Anandabazar Patrika is an Indian Bengali language daily newspaper published in Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.28 million copies making it the largest circulation for a single-edition, regional language...
, the largest circulated daily in India. He shifted from Anandabazar Patrika
Anandabazar Patrika
Anandabazar Patrika is an Indian Bengali language daily newspaper published in Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.28 million copies making it the largest circulation for a single-edition, regional language...
to The Statesman
The Statesman
The Statesman is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper founded in 1875 and published simultaneously in Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneswar. The Statesman is owned by The Statesman Ltd., its headquarters at Statesman House, Chowringhee Square, Calcutta and its national...
in 1992, then he joined Banglalive dot com, an internet magazine where he remained until he made his first film Ek Je Achhe Kanya (The Girl) in 2001. His wife Parongama Sen is a Physicist of international repute.
Films
Ek Je Achhe Kanya, also known as The Girl in English is Subrata Sen's first film, which made waves in Bengal and India. It won massive critical acclaim and at the same time was a major success story in the commercial arena. This movie is said to be influenced by a Hollywood movie The Crush starring Alicia SilverstoneAlicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone is an American actress, author, and former fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in music videos for Aerosmith, and is perhaps best known for her roles in Hollywood films such as Clueless and her portrayal of Batgirl in Batman & Robin .-Early life:Silverstone...
. The movie also saw the debut performance of Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen. Sharma appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.Making her...
and earned an entry into the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, besides winning the Gollapudi Srinivas National Award for a debut director.
His follow-up film, 2002's ...And They Dared to Dream known as Swapner Feriwala
Swapner Feriwala
Swapner Feriwala is a 2002 Bengali film. Directed by Subrata Sen, it featured Subrata Dutta, Ferdous Ahmed, Nilanjana Sharma. The film is Nilanjana Sharma's cinematic debut.- Plot :...
in Bengali—while commercially not as successful as The Girl, earned Sen some shelf-life in international arena, including an inclusion into that year's Karlovy Vary Film Festival line-up, proving Sen to be an emerging maverick of Bengali and Indian cinema.
Sen's third movie Vacation Blues, known as Nil Nirjane
Nil Nirjane
Nil Nirjane is a Bengali Movie, released in 2003. This is the first movie in India which was shot on digital platform and is often credited as the first digital film in India. Directed by Subrata Sen, the movie featured Moonmoon Sen, Raima Sen, June Malliah, Mou Sultana and Rajatabha Datta...
in Bengali was made in 2003 and was the first digital movie to be made in India. The movie became a cult among the young population in Bengal, despite attracting flak from orthodox critics because of a liplock scene between two young females. The film won the Best Experimental Film award at the Down Under Film Festival, Australia.
Sen based his fourth and fifth movies on Bengali literature. His fourth movie Hotath Neerar Jonnyo
Hotath Neerar Jonnyo
Hotath Neerar Jonnyo is a 2004 Bengali film directed by director Subrata Sen. It is based on a short story Rani O Abinash by noted novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay.-Plot:...
(Suddenly for Nira) was made in 2005, based on a short story by Sunil Gangopadhyay. The movie faced problems from the Indian Censor Board because of some reported explicit scenes and was commercially released only after a few shots were deleted.
Sen's fifth movie Bibar
Bibar
Bibar is a 2006 Bengali film directed by Subrata Sen starring Subrata Datta, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Kunal Mitra, Shiladitya Patranabis, Pradip Mukhopadhyay, Anuradha Ray, Kanchan Mullick, Rajesh Sharma, Dulal Lahiri, Biswajit Chakraborty, Oindrilla Khan, &...
(Calcutta Unabashed) made in 2006 was based on a controversial Bengali classic by Samaresh Basu. The film won the best actor and best actress awards at the Osian Cinefan, New Delhi—the international film festival of Asian films.
Sen's films are said to be the beginning of "urban genre" of Bengali films and are now course material in plenty of film schools in India. Though not as famous as his seniors beyond his home-state Bengal, Sen is the maverick filmmaker of Indian Cinema whose work, as felt in Karlovy Vary Film Festival catalogue, strongly resembles that of Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
.
Influences & Impact
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...
, the master Indian filmmaker, while writing for Sandesh, a children's magazine which the maestro edited. It was probably Ray's over towering influence in childhood, which initiated Sen into delving in filmmaking.
But despite his close association with Ray, Sen has consciously avoided Ray's style of filmmaking. "Ray is a fixation of Indian Filmmakers. We have to get out of his influence and make movies which are different", he says.
Besides Ray, the person whose style influenced Sen the most was Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
. "We have to break all forms and all moulds to make Bengali film survive. Godard is our ideal", is Sen's frank admission. Incidentally Subrata Sen's second film, Swapner Feriwala, is a tribute to Godard.
His first film, "Ek Je Achhe Kanya" has been acknowledged by the Jadavpur University
Jadavpur University
Jadavpur University , is a premier educational and research institution in India.It is located in Kolkata, West Bengal and comprises two campuses - the main campus at Jadavpur and the new campus at Salt Lake...
as the "First New wave Film" for the young generation in the post Satyajit Ray era. The film has been included in the University's Film Studies course from 2002.
Filmography
The following is the list of films directed by Subrata Sen. For many of these movies, Subrata Sen is also credited for the story, screenplay:Director
| Year | Film | Language | Cast |
| 2001 2001 in film The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy... |
Ek Je Achhe Kanya | Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
Konkona Sen Sharma Konkona Sen Sharma Konkona Sen Sharma is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen. Sharma appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.Making her... , Sabyasachi Chakraborty Sabyasachi Chakraborty Sabyasachi Chakraborty is a Bengali Indian male actor of TV and films. Sabyasachi Chakraborty is one of the most talented and prolific actors of Bengal whose acting prowess is well known all over India.-Early life:... , Debashree Roy Debashree Roy Debashree Roy is a Bengali cinema actress. She acted in more than 100 films and has 40 awards, including a National Film Award for Best Actress for the film Unishe April in 1995. She was also known by the name 'Chintamani' in Tamil Nadu, when she acted in a few Tamil movies.- Early life :She was... |
| 2002 2002 in film The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of... |
Swapner Feriwala Swapner Feriwala Swapner Feriwala is a 2002 Bengali film. Directed by Subrata Sen, it featured Subrata Dutta, Ferdous Ahmed, Nilanjana Sharma. The film is Nilanjana Sharma's cinematic debut.- Plot :... |
Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
Subrata Dutta, Ferdous Ahmed Ferdous Ahmed Ferdous Ahmed is a Bangla movie actor. He became famous first as a television actor, then as a film hero in the mid 1990s. He has released more than 40 films, both in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India... , Nilanjana Sharma Nilanjana Sharma Nilanjana Sharma is an actress. She is the daughter of Anjana Bhowmik. Her younger sister Chandana Sharma is also an actress. She also played a pivotal role in the show Hip Hip Hooray Nilanjana's debut movie was director Subrata Sen's Swapner Feriwala. She is a graduate of English literature. She... , Dipankar De |
| 2003 2003 in film The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,... |
Nil Nirjane Nil Nirjane Nil Nirjane is a Bengali Movie, released in 2003. This is the first movie in India which was shot on digital platform and is often credited as the first digital film in India. Directed by Subrata Sen, the movie featured Moonmoon Sen, Raima Sen, June Malliah, Mou Sultana and Rajatabha Datta... |
Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
Moonmoon Sen Moonmoon Sen Moon Moon Sen is an Indian film actress. She did movies in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Kannada films. Sen is part of a three generational family of actors and was a staple of the Bengali film industry, starring in many hit films... , Raima Sen Raima Sen -Early life:She is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen and the granddaughter of legendary actress Suchitra Sen. Her sister, Riya Sen, is also in the Bollywood industry. Their father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch... , June Malliah |
| 2004 2004 in film The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol... |
Hotath Neerar Jonnyo Hotath Neerar Jonnyo Hotath Neerar Jonnyo is a 2004 Bengali film directed by director Subrata Sen. It is based on a short story Rani O Abinash by noted novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay.-Plot:... |
Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
Bickram Ghosh Bickram Ghosh Bickram Ghosh is an Indian tabla player performing in Hindustani classical music as well as Fusion music.... , Jaya Seal, Tina Majumdar |
| 2006 2006 in film - Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006... |
Bibar Bibar Bibar is a 2006 Bengali film directed by Subrata Sen starring Subrata Datta, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Kunal Mitra, Shiladitya Patranabis, Pradip Mukhopadhyay, Anuradha Ray, Kanchan Mullick, Rajesh Sharma, Dulal Lahiri, Biswajit Chakraborty, Oindrilla Khan, &... |
Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
Subrata Datta, Tannistha Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar |
| Unreleased | Nondinee | Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
Swastika Mukherjee Swastika Mukherjee Swastika Mukherjee is a Bengali actress at Tollywood. She is daughter of actor Santu Mukherjee. Mukherjee's first stint with acting was the tele-serial Devdasi. She made her film debut in 2003 with the film Hemanter Pakhi directed by Urmi Chakraborty... , Mir Asaf Ali, Others |
Writer and Novelist
Subrata Sen has written the stories for three of his movies, namely Ek Je Acche Kanya, Swapner Feriwala and Nil Nirjane, and is the scriptwriter of all his five movies. He is the writer and scriptwriter of all his television fiction work too. He has not worked on anyone else's script so far. Subrata Sen also has two published Bengali novels to his credit, namely Joubon Japon (ISBN 978-81-7756-935-3) and Dakbakshe Nil Kham (ISBN 978-81-7756-865-3).Story and Screenplay
Subrata Sen often writes both story and screenplay of his films, apart from BibarBibar
Bibar is a 2006 Bengali film directed by Subrata Sen starring Subrata Datta, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Kunal Mitra, Shiladitya Patranabis, Pradip Mukhopadhyay, Anuradha Ray, Kanchan Mullick, Rajesh Sharma, Dulal Lahiri, Biswajit Chakraborty, Oindrilla Khan, &...
and Hotath Neerar Jonnyo
Hotath Neerar Jonnyo
Hotath Neerar Jonnyo is a 2004 Bengali film directed by director Subrata Sen. It is based on a short story Rani O Abinash by noted novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay.-Plot:...
. Bibar
Bibar
Bibar is a 2006 Bengali film directed by Subrata Sen starring Subrata Datta, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Kunal Mitra, Shiladitya Patranabis, Pradip Mukhopadhyay, Anuradha Ray, Kanchan Mullick, Rajesh Sharma, Dulal Lahiri, Biswajit Chakraborty, Oindrilla Khan, &...
was based on famous Bengali writer Samaresh Basu
Samaresh Basu
Samaresh Basu was an Indian Bengali writer based in Kolkata, India. He was born on December 11, 1924 and spent his early childhood in Dhaka, Bikrampur in what is today Bangladesh...
's novel. Where as Hotath Neerar Jonnyo was adapted from a short story of another famous writer Sunil Gangopadhyay
Sunil Gangopadhyay
Sunil Gangopadhyay , is a celebrated Indian poet and novelist.-Early life:...
.
Sen's quotes
And the normal human being said, "Let there be light, sound and action..."
"Cinema is a way of life but life is not only about cinema. A filmmaker now, having done five movies and three television films in the past six years, but it's not only cinema that holds my interests.
Started off long ago as a journalist with ABP, changed to Statesman and worked in Kolkata and Delhi for long years. In 2001 my first movie Ek Je Aachhe Kanya, (which was Konkona Sensharma's debut movie too) was released and suddenly I turned a filmmaker."
External links
- Subrata Sen's personal website
- http://www.cerebration.org/subratasen.html
- The Girl 44th Karlovy Vary Film Festival Archive
- ...And they dared to dream 44th Karlovy Vary Film Festival Archive
- http://www.arjoe.com/kvff.htm
- http://www.arjoe.com/sferi/feriwala.shtml
- http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060224/asp/etc/story_5881926.asp
- http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040620/asp/calcutta/story_3394623.asp
- http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/11092729.cms
- http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050326/saturday/main1.htm
- http://www.timeout.com/film/people/355445/subrata-sen.html
- http://www.kviff.com/en/film-archive-detail/20021385--and-they-dared-to-dream/
- http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/jun/09kon.htm
- http://www.onshack.com/57121-movie/nil-nirjane
- Bulletin of Film
- Screen India report on Hathat Nirar Janya
- Cutting Edge: Senseless Censors by S V Raman
- Osian Cinefan 2006 awards