Bhimsain (born Bhimsain Khurana; November 24, 1936 – April 17, 2018) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and animator. He is best known as the pioneer of Indian animation, along with his mentor

Ram Mohan Ram Mohan (26 August 1931 – 11 October 2019) was an Indian animator, title designer and design educator, who was also known as father of Indian Animation and was a veteran in the Indian animation industry, who started his career at the Cartoo ...

. He was the recipient of 16 President's National Awards for his contributions to Indian cinema. He is best known for directing the critically acclaimed ''

Gharaonda ''Gharaonda'' (''The Nest'') is a 1977 Hindi drama film, produced and directed by Bhimsain. The film stars Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab, Shreeram Lagoo and Jalal Agha. The music is by Jaidev. Plot ''Gharonda'' explores the lives of Sudip (Amol P ...

'' (1977) starring

Amol Palekar Amol Palekar (born 24 November 1944) is an Indian actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema. Career Palekar studied fine arts at the Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, and commenced his artistic career as a painter. As a painter, he ...

and

Zarina Wahab Zarina Wahab is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Hindi and Malayalam films. Known for critically acclaimed roles in ''Chitchor'' and '' Gopal Krishna'' in Hindi and Malayalam cinema with films like ''Madanolsavam'', ''Chamaram'', ...

, and ''

Dooriyaan ''Dooriyaan'' is a 1979 Bollywood film directed by Bhimsain Khurana and written by Shanker Shesh.It starred Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore Plot Cast *Uttam Kumar as Kailash *Sharmila Tagore as Ratna *Shreeram Lagoo as Prabhakar *Jalal Ag ...

'' (1979) starring

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (also known as Begum Ayesha Sultana; born 8 December 1944) is a retired Indian actress, primarily known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema, Tagore is the recipient of two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, and the Fi ...

and

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 ...

. He is also known for creating the animation short film ''

Ek Anek Aur Ekta ''Ek Anek Aur Ekta'' or "One, Many, and Unity" (also known as ''Ek Chidiya, Anek Chidiyan'' after the title song) is a traditionally animated short educational film released by the Films Division of India (Government of India). It was released ...

'' (1974) which aired on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

in the 70s. Bhimsain has also directed India's largest animation series '' Vartmaan'' (1994).

Early life

Born in

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

(now in Pakistan) in 1936, Bhimsain moved to

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

after the partition. Belonging to family of artists, he gravitated to arts and music early, studying fine arts and learning classical music at the

Lucknow College of Arts and Crafts The Lucknow College of Arts and Crafts (LCAC), also known as the Government College of Arts and Crafts (GCAC) or simply the College of Arts and Crafts (CAC), was founded in 1911. It is affiliated to University of Lucknow. Sri Alok Kumar is princ ...

which held him in good stead throughout his life. In 1961, Bhimsain moved to Mumbai after he secured a job at the

Films Division of India The Films Division of India (FDI), commonly referred as Films Division, was established in 1948 following the independence of India. It was the first state film production and distribution unit, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcastin ...

as background painter. It is here that he learned the art and craft of animation filmmaking, under the mentorship of

Career

Bhimsain made his debut with the animation short ''The Climb'' (1970) which earned him the Silver Hugo Award at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

. Soon after, he directed and produced several animation and ad films. He further established his repute as a director and producer with his landmark animation short ''Ek Anek Aur'' ''Ekta'' (1974). This film got him another

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

in the same year and has had over 500 screening on

. In 1976, Bhimsain produced and directed his first feature film ''

'' (1977). It was written by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winner

Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...

and starred

and

. It received more than 30 awards including 5 Filmfare awards. This was followed by two other feature films, of which '' Doooriyan'' received an additional Filmfare award. In 1985, Bhimsain ventured in television production with the sitcom ''Chhoti Badi Baatein'' (1986) based on superstitions. During the same period he also made several documentaries like ''Der Aaye Durust Aaye'', ''Shaadi Shaadi'', ''Jeevan Rahasya'', ''Setu'' and ''Roshni''. His documentary ''Kathni Karni Eksi'' fetched him two

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

in 1990. In 1991, he created India's first computer aided animation series ''Lok Gatha'' based on folk tales. This series received 3 National awards. Apart from this he also made India's largest animation project till date in the form of a 26-episode series '' Vartmaan'' aired on Doordarshan.

Personal

He is father of filmmaker

Kireet Khurana Kireet Khurana (born 25 October 1967) is an Indian filmmaker, animator, and ad-film director. Kireet joined his father's company to create '' Vartmaan''. In 2010, he made his debut with India's first feature film combining live-action and ...

, and grandfather of Kabeer Khurana.

Filmography

As director

* ''Orchestra'' (Short) (2001) * ''The Prince and the Magician'' (Short) (1998) * ''Locked'' (Short) (1997) * ''Common Man'' (TV Movie) (1997) * '' Vartmaan'' (TV Series) (1994) * ''Lok Gatha'' (TV Series) (1992) * ''Kathni Karni Eksi'' (Documentary) (1989) * ''Roshni'' (Documentary) (1988) * ''Setu'' (Documentary) (1987) * ''Chhoti Badi Baatein'' (TV Series) (1986) * ''Tum Laut Aao'' (1983) * ''Jivan Rahasya'' (1982) * ''Shaadi Shaadi'' (1982) * ''Der Aaye Durust Aaye'' (1981) * ''Doooriyan'' (1979) * ''

'' (1977) * ''Business Is People'' (1976) * ''Munni'' (1975) * ''

'' (Short) (1974) * ''Flowers Everywhere'' - 1973 * ''Mehmaan'' (1972) * ''The Fire'' (Short) (1972) * ''Ek Do'' (1971) * ''Kahani Har Zamane Ki'' (1971) * ''Na'' (1971) * ''The Climb'' (1970)

As producer

* ''Trade'' (Short) (1998) * ''The Prince and the Magician'' (Short) (1998) * ''Locked'' (Short) (1997) * ''O'' (Short) (1995) * '' Vartmaan'' (TV Series) (1994) * ''Mahagiri'' (Short) (1994) * ''Chhoti Badi Baatein'' (TV Series) (1986) * ''Doooriyan'' (1979) * ''Gharaonda'' (1977) * ''Munni'' (1975) * ''Ek Anek Aur Ekta'' (Short) (1974) * ''The Fire'' (1972) * ''The Climb'' (1970)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhimsain 1936 births 2018 deaths Indian animators Indian filmmakers Indian film producers Indian animated film directors Indian animated film producers Film directors from Mumbai University of Lucknow alumni Indian film directors