Ahindra Choudhury (1896-1974) was an Indian actor, director, theatre personality and the co-founder of ''Photo Play Syndicate'', a Kolkata-based art organization for

bioscope show A Bioscope show was a music hall and fairground attraction consisting of a travelling cinema. The heyday of the Bioscope was from the late 1890s until World War I. History Bioscope shows were fronted by the largest fairground organs, and these f ...

s. A winner of the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

in 1958, Choudhury was honoured by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 1963 with the award of

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, the fourth highest Indian civilian award, for his services to the nation.

Biography

Ahindra Choudhury was born on 6 August 1896 in Chakraberia,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. His early education was at Sishu Vidyalaya in Chakraberia and at London Missionary, Kolkata from where completed his studies in 1911. His entry into films started with the

company, ''Photo Play Synidicate'', he founded together with Prafulla Ghosh in 1921. Two years later, he wrote the screenplay for the motionless feature film, ''Soul of a Slave'' directed by Hemchandra Mukherjee and was the lead actor. His foray into movie world was in 1931 with ''Hrishir Prem'', a Jyotish Bandopadhay film. He retired from acting with ''Shahjahan'', a drama staged on 11 September 1957 at

Minerva Theatre, Kolkata The Minerva Theatre is a theatre in Kolkata, built in 1893. It was erected at the site on Beadon Street where the Great National Theatre stood before. The maiden play held on this stage was 'Macbeth'. It was initially owned by Nagendra Bhusan Muk ...

. Years later, he appeared in one more film, ''Shravan Sandhya'', in 1974. He acted in 89 films, wrote screenplay for his maiden venture, ''Soul of a Slave'' and directed two films. Choudhury received the

Sangeet Natak Akademi award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

in 1958. The

honoured him with the civilian award of

in 1963. He was a recipient of DLitt (Honoris Causa) from the

Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on May 8, 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. ...

and was a guest Lecturer at the

University of Kolkata The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

. He died on 4 November 1974, at the age of 80.

Filmography

As an actor

As a Director

* Krishna Sakha (1927) * Vipranarayana (1937)

As a story writer

* Soul of a Slave (1923)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Ahindra Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education 1896 births 1974 deaths People from Kolkata district Indian male film actors Indian male screenwriters Hindi-language film directors Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 20th-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian male actors Male actors from Kolkata Film directors from Kolkata Indian male silent film actors 20th-century Indian screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers