Moni Bhattacharjee 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, pr ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

of the 1960s who directed

Hindi language Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

films.

Career

Bhattacharjee started as an assistant to

Bimal Roy Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 8 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as '' Do Bigha Zamin'', '' Parineeta'', '' Biraj Bahu'', ''Devdas'', ''Madhumati'', '' Sujata'', '' ...

on many classic films of the 1950s. After the success of the film ''

Madhumati ''Madhumati'' is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and John ...

'' (1958), Bimal Roy asked him to direct ''Usne Kaha Tha'', which Roy produced under Bimal Roy Productions label, thus starting Bhattacharjee's career as a fully fledged director. However, ''Usne Kaha Tha'' itself was a "none too smooth takeoff". Bhattacharjee went on to direct numerous films, and is best known for the

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquial ...

film, ''

Mujhe Jeene Do ''Mujhe Jeene Do'' () is a 1963 Hindi film, directed by Moni Bhattacharjee and written by Aghajani Kashmeri. This dacoit drama stars Sunil Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Nirupa Roy, Rajendranath and Mumtaz. Shot in the Chambal Valley ravines of ...

'' (1963), which starred

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Dutt; 6 June 1929 — 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director and politician. Dutt was one of the major stars of Hindi cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s and continued to star in many successful film ...

and

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress and dancer. Regarded as one of Hindi cinema's finest actresses, Rehman's accolades include a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards. Rehman was honoured with the Padma Shri by G ...

and was among the "Official Selection" at the

1964 Cannes Film Festival The 17th Cannes Film Festival was held from 29 April to 14 May 1964. On this occasion, the Palme d’Or was renamed "Grand Prix du Festival International du Film", a name that remained in use through 1974, after which it became the Palme d'Or ag ...

.Official Selection 1964

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the sec ...

'' praised ''Mujhe Jeene Do'', writing that the "brilliant synthesis of script, photography, music, lyrics, acting and direction sends you on an emotional rollercoaster". ''

The Illustrated Weekly of India ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' was an English-language weekly newsmagazine publication in India. It started publication in 1880 (as ''Times of India'' Weekly Edition; later renamed as ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' in 1923) and ceasin ...

'' stated that Bhattacharjee was "groomed in the Bimal Roy school", and that his first directorial efforts were not as successful as ''Mujhe Jeene Do'', which "placed him in the top flight of young directors". Of ''Mujhe Jeene Do'', ''The Link'' wrote: "The moral of the film is legion, and the acting impeded by Moni Bhattacharjee's confused direction. Only one thing is left. Does it, in all its humbling messiness, ever touch the heart?" More recently, in 2010, ''Mujhe Jeene Do'' was described as a "classic" by ''

'' newspaper.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

* 1964, nominated for

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

for ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharjee, Moni Film directors from Mumbai Hindi-language film directors Indian male screenwriters Living people 20th-century Indian film directors Bengali film directors Bengali screenwriters Year of birth missing (living people)