Ajoy Kar (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

:অজয় কর; 27 March 1914 – 25 January 1985) was an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

. He directed 26 films between 1949 and 1983. His 1961 film ''

Saptapadi Saptapadi () is regarded to be the most important rite (Sanskrit: ) of a Hindu wedding ceremony. After tying the sacred knot known as the Mangalsutra, mangalasutra, the newly-wed couple takes seven steps together, during which the marriage is so ...

'' was entered into the

3rd Moscow International Film Festival The 3rd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 21 July 1963. The Grand Prix was awarded to the Italian film ''8½'' directed by Federico Fellini. Jury * Grigori Chukhrai (USSR - President of the Jury) * Shaken Ajmanov (USSR) * S ...

. Ajoy Kar provided a whole new expression to Bengali cinema. His 1971 film ''

Malyadan ''Malyadan'' (also ''Malyadaan''; English: ''The Garlanding'', also ''The Wedding Garland'') is a 1971 Bengali film directed by Ajoy Kar, based on a short story by Rabindranath Tagore, and starring Soumitra Chatterjee, Sabitri Chatterjee and Nand ...

'' won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several ...

Early life

Ajoy Kar was born on 27 March 1914, in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He left college in 1931 to become a professional photographer, and took up cinematography a few years later.

Career

After initially working as an assistant to Jatin Das, Kar became a cinematographer at

Indrapuri Studio Indrapuri Studios is a film and television studio located in 4, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road, Tollygunge, Kolkata. This is one of the oldest and busiest Bengali film studios of Kolkata. Indrapuri Studios was established in 1935 and currently ...

s, Calcutta, in 1938. Over the next four decades, he shot more than 80 feature films. He also shot a number of documentary films. Kar's first film as director was ''Ananya'' (1949), made by the Sabyasachi collective launched by

Kanan Devi Kanan Devi (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) was an Indian actress and singer. She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali cinema. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was ...

. The first film for which he received individual directorial credit was ''Bamuner Meye'' (1949). During the 1950s and early 1960s, he emerged as a key figure in mainstream Bengali cinema, with a string of commercially successful films such as '' Shyamali'' (1956), ''

Harano Sur ''Harano Sur'' () is a 1957 Indian Bengali-language romantic drama film by Ajoy Kar, starring Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar, with music by Hemant Kumar, and sung by Geeta Dutt. This is the first film that Uttam had produced along with Ajoy Kar. ...

'' (1957), ''

'' (1961) and ''

Saat Pake Bandha ''Saat Pake Bandha'' is a Bengali romantic film starring Soumitra Chatterjee, Suchitra Sen, Pahari Sanyal and Tarun Kumar. Directed by Ajoy Kar, it was a box office success upon its release. The movie was remade in 1963 in Telugu as ''Viva ...

'' (1963). Of these, ''Harano Sur'' and ''Saptapadi'' involved the popular romantic pair of

Uttam Kumar Uttam Kumar ( bn, উত্তম কুমার; born Arun Kumar Chattopadhyay; 3 September 1926 – 24 July 1980), popularly known as the Mahanayak, was an Indian actor, producer, director, Screenwriter, script writer, composer, and sing ...

and

Suchitra Sen Suchitra Sen ( ; born as Roma Dasgupta (; 6 April 1931 – 17 January 2014) was an Indian actress who worked in Bengali and Hindi cinema. The movies in which she was paired opposite Uttam Kumar became classics in the history of Bengali cinema ...

. These films also received critical acclaim.

Filmmaking style

From the late 1960s onwards, he made a number of films which were adaptations of well-known literary works, especially those by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

and

Sarat Chandra Chatterjee Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ � ...

. Some of these are '' Parineeta'' (1969), ''

'', ''Datta'' (1976) and ''Naukadubi'' (1979). In all, he directed 26 films, the last being ''Bishabriksha'' (1983). He was influenced by western literature and western Movie. His spectacular camera work created him a Different Personality than other Bengali Filmmakers.

Legacy

'' and

has been restored and digitised by the

National Film Archives of India National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. Goutam Ghose says that Mrinal Sen was compelled to write scripts for directors like Ajay Kar’s Kanch Kata Heera.His works impact and influence on South Indian filmmakers like

C. V. Sridhar Chitthamoor Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi language, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu Languages. Ea ...

and

P. S. Ramakrishna Rao P. S. Ramakrishna Rao (12 October 1918 – 7 September 1986) was a veteran Telugu film director and producer. He married Bhanumathi, a multi-talented film artist from South India, on 8 August 1943. Filmography *'' Gruhalakshmi'' (1967) (Prod ...

. and Bollywood filmmaker like

Anil Ganguly Anil Ganguly (26 January 1933 – 15 January 2016) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, who worked in Hindi cinema from 1970s to 2001. He is best known for Jaya Bhaduri starrer, ''Kora Kagaz'' (1974) and the Rakhee Gulzar, Rakhee st ...

and Partially influence on Bengali Filmmaker like

Tarun Majumdar Tarun Majumdar (or Mazumdar, 22 September 1931 – 4 July 2022) was an Indian film director and Screenwriter who is known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received four National Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards and an Anandalo ...

Awards and honours

* 18th National Film Awards – ''

'' won the

. * 5th National Film Awards – ''

'' received a Certificate of Merit for 3rd best film in Bengali * 9th National Film Awards – ''

'' received a Certificate of Merit for 2nd best film in Bengali * 11th National Film Awards – ''

'' received a Certificate of Merit for 2nd best film in Bengali *BFJA Awards 1972—Best Indian Films for ''

''. *Silver Prize for Best Actress:

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is the film festival first h ...

for

Selected filmography

* ''Ananya'' (1949) * ''Bamuner Meye'' (1949) * ''

Jighansa ''Jighansa'' is a Bengali thriller film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' released on 20 April 1951. It was directed by Ajoy Kar and musical scores are done by Hemant Kumar. Plot The movie revolves around ...

'' (1951) * '' Darpachurna '' (1952) * '' Grihapravesh'' (1954) * ''Sajghar'' (1955) * ''Paresh'' (1955) * '' Shyamali'' (1956) * ''

'' (1957) * ''

Bardidi ''Bardidi'' is a Bengali drama film directed by Ajoy Kar, based on the novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. This film was released in 1957 under the banner of Sarat Banichitra. In 1939 another film was released in the same na ...

'' (1957) * ''Khelaghar'' (1959) * ''Suno Baranari'' (1960) * ''

'' (1961) * '' Atal Jaler Ahwan'' (1962) * ''Barnali '' (1963) * ''

'' (1963) * ''Prabhater Rang'' (1964) *'' Kanch Kata Hirey'' (1965) * '' Parineeta'' (1969) * ''

'' (1971) * ''Kaya Hiner Kahini'' (1973) * '' Datta'' (1976) * ''Naukadubi'' (1979) * ''Madhuban'' (1983) * ''Bishabriksha'' (1983)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kar, Ajoy 1914 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Kolkata Bengali film directors