Dhirendra Nath Ganguly (26 March 1893 – 18 November 1978), better known as Dhiren Ganguly or D.G, was a

Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadca ...

-winning and

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

recipient film entrepreneur/actor/director of Bengali Cinema. He had set up a number of film production companies: Indo British Film company, British Dominion Films, Lotus Film Company. Later, he directed films for

New Theatres New Theatres is an Indian film studio. It was formed in Calcutta by producer B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar, the recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award of 1970). It was formed on 10 February 1931. Motto of this company was– ''Jivatang Jyotire ...

. He produced many movies in the comedy genre. He was born in

Calcutta 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, commerc ...

and died in the same city.

Early life and family

Ganguly studied in the

Visva Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...

Shantiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...

. He became a headmaster of State Art School in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...

. He released a book of photographs of his make-up techniques called ''Bhavki Abhibyakti'' in 1915. He also taught this art to C.I.D. officers in both

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 ...

and independent India. His family hailed from

Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administra ...

. His elder brother Upendranath Ganguly was a restaurant owner who settled in United Provinces. Upendranath had married Ambalika Devi, the daughter of renowned Brahmo scholar Trailokyanath Sanyal and was the father of famous freedom fighter, educator and activist

Aruna Asaf Ali Aruna Asaf Ali (''née'' Ganguly; 16 July 1909 – 29 July 1996) was an Indian educator, political activist, and publisher. An active participant in the Indian independence movement, she is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National f ...

. Upendranath's other daughter

Purnima Banerjee Purnima Banerjee (née Ganguly, 1911-1951) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist and a member of the Constituent Assembly of India from 1946 to 1950. Early life and career She was the younger sister of famous freedom fighter, educator and ...

was a member of the

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

. Their another brother, Nagendranath, was a university professor who married Nobel Prize winner

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 ...

's only surviving daughter Mira Devi.

Career

Dhirendra Nath Ganguly 2013 stamp of India

Indo British Film Company

Ganguly's photography book brought him in contact of J. F. Madan, who agreed to invest in his films. Ganguly and

Madan Theatre Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or Madan Theatres in short, was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji Madan, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema. History Madan, a young Parsi businessman, who had expe ...

s' manager Nitish Lahiri formed the Indo British Film Co, the first

film production Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

company owned by Bengalis, in 1918. '' Bilat Ferat (1921)'' (''The England Returned''), a silent comedy film directed by Nitish Lahiri, was the first production from this company. They released another two movies in 1922: ''Yashoda Nandan'' and ''Sadhu Aur Shaitan''.

Lotus Film Company

Ganguly founded Lotus Film Company in Hyderabad and also established a film studio and two cinema houses with the help of

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

. In 1924, he was a distributor of ''Razia Begum'', a film made in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. This film portrayed a Muslim princess who fell in love of a Hindu. This enraged Nizam and he ordered Ganguly to leave Hyderabad.

British Dominion Films

Ganguly returned to Calcuta and eventually formed another film production company British Dominion Films. Actor Pramathesh Barua invested in this venture and also acted in a film produced by this company. However, with the arrival

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decad ...

s and new sound technologies, this film company failed.

Talkies era

Ganguly joined Barua Pictures company of Pramathesh Barua. But, soon both of them joined B. N. Sircar's

Recognition

* D.G. received

in 1974. * He received

in 1975.

Filmography

Director

* Cartoon (1949) * Shesh Nibedan (1948) * Srinkhal (1947) * Daabi (1943) * Ahuti (1941) * Karmakhali (1940) * Path-Bhule (1940) * Abhisarika (1938) * Achin Priya (1938) * Hal Bangla (1938) * Country Girl (1936) (Hindi: Dehati Ladki) * Dwipantar (1936) * Bidrohi (1935) * Excuse Me, Sir (1934) * Halkatha (1934) * Mastuto Bhai (1934) * Night Bird (1934) * Charitraheen (1931) * Takay Ki Na Hay (1931) (English title: Money Makes What Not) * Alik Babu (1930) (English title: Master Liar) * Flames of Flesh (1930) (Bengali title: Kamonar Agun) * Bimata (1923) (Hindi title: Bijoy Basant, English title: Stepmother) * Chintamani (1923) * The Marriage Tonic (1923) * Sati Simantini (1923) * Vijay and Basanta (1923) * Yayati (1923) * Yashoda Nandan (1922) (Hindi title: Shri Radha Krishna) * Hara Gouri (1922) * Indrajeet (1922) * Lady Teacher (1922)

Actor

* Shesh Nibedan (1948) * Bondita (1945) * Hal Bangla (1938) * Excuse Me, Sir (1934) * Mastuto Bhai (1934) * Maraner Pare (1931) (English title: After the Death) * Takay Ki Na Hay (1931) (English title: Money Makes What Not) * Panchasar (1930) (English title: Blind God / Five Arrows) * Alik Babu (1930) (English title: Master Liar) * Shankaracharya (1927) (English title: Renaissance of Hinduism) * Yashoda Nandan (1922) (Hindi title: Shri Radha Krishna) * Lady Teacher (1922) * Sadhu Aur Shaitan (1922) * Bilet Pherat (1921) (English title: The England Returned)

Writer

* Shesh Nibedan (1948) (screenplay) * Bilet Pherat (1921) (English title: The England Returned) (writer)

Producer

* Flames of Flesh (1930) (Bengali title: Kamonar Agun) * Bilet Pherat (1921) (English title: The England Returned)

References

External links

*
Bangla Films Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganguly, Dhiren Visva-Bharati University alumni Bengali film producers Film producers from Kolkata Bengali male actors Male actors in Bengali cinema 20th-century Indian male actors Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients 1893 births 1978 deaths Male actors from Kolkata 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian film directors Screenwriters from Kolkata 20th-century Indian screenwriters Film directors from Kolkata