Harisadhan Dasgupta (1923–1996) was an Indian film director from

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 ...

who was most prolific in the 1950s and 1960s. Dasgupta specialized in surveying subjects of fascination to the Bengali public. Dasgupta attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and later the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

to study film-making.Harisadhan Dasgupta.
Bengali Vaidyas. He studied for a time under Hollywood producer

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended Pittsburgh Cent ...

. Upon completing an apprenticeship, he returned to Calcutta to produce documentaries. Over a lengthy career, Dasgupta produced many documentaries, long and short. He was best known for his English language documentaries on the Bengali people's situation, including such works as ''Panchthupi: A Village in West Bengal'' (1955), ''Panorama of West Bengal'' (1961), ''Glimpses of India'' (1965), and ''The Automobile Industry in India'' (1969). He became most well known for his classic documentary commissioned by

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata ...

, India's largest private corporation, titled ''Tata: The Story of Steel''. As with several of his films, this documentary was scripted by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

. Throughout his career, Dasgupta also worked with several other leading lights involved in Calcutta's film-making renaissance, including

Hrishikesh Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukherjee (30 September 1922 – 27 August 2006) was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Popularly known as ''Hrishi-da'', he directed 42 films during his car ...

Claude Renoir Claude Renoir (December 4, 1913Some sources, such as Ginette Vincendeau's ''Encyclopedia of European Cinema'', London: Cassell/BFI, 1995, p.328 indicate 1914 as his year of birth – September 5, 1993) was a French cinematographer. He was the ...

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...

Chidananda Dasgupta Chidananda Das Gupta ( bn, চিদানন্দ দাশগুপ্ত) (20 November 1921 – 22 May 2011)—family name sometimes spelled 'Dashgupta' and 'Dasgupta'—was an Indian filmmaker, film critic, a film historian and one of the ...

, and Asit Sen. In 1947, Dasgupta co-founded the Calcutta Film Society along with

, RP Gupta,

Bansi Chandragupta Bansi Chandragupta (1924–1981) was an Indian art director and production designer, regarded among the greatest of art directors of Indian film industry. He won Filmfare Best Art Direction Award thrice, for '' Seema'' in 1972, for ''Do Jhoot' ...

and others. Dasgupta was involved in a highly publicized incident when his wife Sonali left their marriage and their six-year-old son for Italian film director

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

. Their son Raja later expressed relief when she passed due to their estrangement.Subhro Niyogi
'Ma didn't miss me.'
''The Times of India''.

Filmography

*"A Perfect Day" *''Panchthupi: A Village in West Bengal'' (1955) *''Panorama of West Bengal'' (1961) *''Glimpses of India'' (1965) *''The Automobile Industry in India'' (1969) *''Tata Iron and Steel''

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dasgupta, Harisudhan 1923 births 1996 deaths Bengali film directors People associated with Santiniketan Film directors from Kolkata University of Southern California alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni 20th-century Indian film directors