RENOWNED BENGALI AND ODISHA FILM DIRECTOR

Sushil Mukherjee is a renowned Bengali as well as Odissa filmmaker based in Kolkata.

He was born on March 21, 1937, in the town of Faridpur,Bangladesh. After finishing his primary education there, his father, who was in Police got transfered  to Calcutta. Got admitted to the Modern School in Park Circus. He completed his  secondary education and subsequently graduated from City Collage of Kolkata. During his student days, he got involved with the cultural wing of the Communist party. Though his family had no other connection with film industry before. 

He started as a full fledged Assistant Director with Satish Dasgupta in “ Lilakonko” .

Seeing the work of great men,also got the privilege of working with them,he aspired to be a Director one day.

BACKGROUND OF THE ACHIEVER

Sushil Mukherjee is a renowned Bengali as well as Odissa filmmaker based in Kolkata.

He was born on March 21, 1937, in the town of Faridpur,Bangladesh. After finishing his primary education there, his father, who was in Police got transferred  to Calcutta. Got admitted to the Modern School in Park Circus. He completed his  secondary education and subsequently graduated from City Collage of Kolkata. During his student days, he got involved with the cultural wing of the Communist party. Though his family had no other connection with film industry before.

 However his interest remained mostly intellectual, but he was forced to take up a job because of the poor family condition.

Eventually he met Manik Roy, a distributor, who introduced him to renowned Director Phoni Ganguly , who was then directing two film simultaneously named “Antorjatik” and “Bastob”.He got linked with both the project.

He started as a full fledged Assistant Director with Satish Dasgupta in “ Lilakonko” .

While working with Satish Babu, he was offered to work in Kanan Devi’s “Srimati Pictures”. In those days, Haridas Bhattacharya, the director himself was assisted by Sachin Mukherjee, Dilip Mukherjee and Tarun Majumdar. Luckily all three left for some unavoidable circumstances and he got the opportunity to show his excellence in the direction department. He started assisting in the projects namely, “Indranath O Srikanto”.This was only the beginning. HE continued working with the production house for next seven years. The films he assisted in those period were, “Sesh Anko”, “Sandhya deeper Shikha”,etc.

He was then called by Bikas Roy to work with him. He was directing “Carry Saheber Munshi”,a periodical master piece. There he got the opportunity to give his inputs in the field independently.

He then worked with Asit Choudhury of “Charuchitram”, who was then working for “Mamta”,hindi remake of “Uttor Falguni”.

Seeing the work of great men,also got the privilege of working with them,he aspired to be a Director one day.

STARTED DIRECTING INDEPENDANTLY

While assisting “Kamallata”, Mrs. Suchitra Sen was quite close to him among all other assistants. She use to share many things, She use to bring a cassette player and listen to songs of Rabindranath Tagore on sets. Before shooting she use to listen to them to enhance her mood. That makes her a great actress of her time.

 Madam Suchitra Sen suggested him to direct his own film. She assured him full cooperation for the project. He was determined to start his own venture, only that under a good banner and with a star performer.

Under her inspiration he directed his first and independent venture “Megh Kalo”, written by Dr.Nihar Ranjan Gupta with Suchitra Sen as a lead actress in a dyanamic role. She kept her words and immensely cooperated in the project. Other caste members were Basanta Choudhury, Chaya Devi, Bikash Roy, Subrata,etc. The film got immense aknowledgement, Also did very well in the market.

In this context, I should add that Mrs.Sen was not only a great actress of all time but a great human being as well. Heard from him,She contributed great deal on the making of ‘Megh Kalo’.She not only gave more emphasis on the character by giving his inputs but also does many things to enhance her performance.She loved to listen to the music and soft songs and usually carried rabindra sangeet cassettes on the set along with the record player.

Even after many years, he was among few people, who got opportunity to meet Mrs.Sen occasionally.As she took recluse from the industry and away from the limelight for many years.

After that his ball kept rolling.He started to direct one after another masterpieces.

After that he did “ Ami Sirajer Begum”, a historical period drama with Sandhya Roy and Biswajit.

 On those days, the work of art was a joint participation of the technicians and the artists. They create excellence through the alliance. He always believe in creating rather than earning. He gave his utmost to the field, despite his worse economic condition.

In those days, he dreamt of producing  his own film. 

THE SAGA CONTINUES ......

He was rare among his colleagues, who always thought about the producers, rather than making money for his own. He was always made small budget films, so that the producers got encouragement to do more work. On those days, money making in this field was very difficult. He was also among the few , who gave opportunity to the young and fresh artist to show their talent on the screen.

He also dreamt of producing  his own feature film. Keeping that in mind, he launched a new aspiring actress named Soma Mukherjee for a movie based on the family melodramatic story named ‘noho mata noho kanya’ of Shailojananda Mukhopadhayay. It was later released as ‘ Boro Bhai’ starring Soma Mukherjee, Santu Mukherjee,Satya Bandopadhay, etc. This film got critics appreciation and tax levied by the government. It was a hit but the amount of revenue gained from the business activity was swept away by the distributor.

Needless to say, Mahanayak Uttam Kumar was not only a iconic performer but was a very generous human being. He thought immensely for the upliftment of the condition of the artists and the technicians as well. He was among few, who stood beside directors and helped them to rise. With Mahanayak,he directed ‘Rodon Bhora Basanta’, based on the best seller ’79 Park Avenue’ of Harold Robins. It was produced by Manju Par. It was a bold film among the contemporary scenario, the censor board declared it as an adult movie. Basabi Nandi, utpal Dutta, Dilip Roy,etc. was also in the film.

ONE AFTER ANOTHER CREATIONS......

The second project with Uttam Kumar was ‘Dui Purush’, it was about the transformation from the Panchayat protagonist to a well to do lawyer was a act of masterpiece. The leading man was not only a powerhouse of acting but a character of excellence. He  listened to all the directors with great enthusiast and put his valuable inputs in the respective projects.Other artists involved in this project was Supriya Devi, Partho, Nandini Malia, Lily Chakraborty, Dilip Roy,etc.

After that he did ‘Sudhur Niharika’ with Soumitra Chatterjee and Sumitra Mukherjee, the story was based on reincarnation. In this movie Debasree Roy and Arindam Ganguly acted as the child artist for the leading pair. Soumitro Chatterjee was another great human being. He interferes very little in director’s activity, he was a dedicated entertainer.

Next comes the super hit ‘Shayam Siddha’, Mithu Mukherjee was the female protagonist and bagged many awards for her excellent performance in the film. Even Ranjit Mullick got tremendous exposure with the character of a mentally challenged and earned fame.. It should be added that Mr.Ranjit Mullick thought and experimented a great deal to portray a character of a mentally retarded, who was regularly and slowly poisoned by his step mother from childhood. He used a betel nut in his mouth constantly during the shoot to create a impression of a retarded person. It was definitely a challenging act. My father welcomed  inputs from him regarding the character. It was marketed very well and did business all over the state, still remembered by many people.

Heard about the success of the film. The Orissa film maker approached my father to do the film in Orissa version. He did that and was super hit in Orissa as well. It was named as ‘Gauri’, acted by Mahasweta and Prashanta Nanda. It was a gateway for him to work in another regional film fraternity. The door opened and they greeted him with wide open hands. But the situation of the artists were worse there. My father advocates for the actors and did great deal for the improvement of the Orissa film industry.