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 ''Do Bigha Zamin'' () is a 1953 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Bimal Roy. Based on Rabindranath Tagore's Bengali poem " Dui Bigha Jomi", the film stars Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy in lead roles. Known for its socialist theme, it is c ...

'', '' Parineeta'', ''

Biraj Bahu ''Biraj Bahu'' is a 1954 Hindi film produced by Hiten Choudhury and directed by Bimal Roy, and based on a Bengali novel by Saratchandra Chattopadhyay. The film stars Kamini Kaushal, Abhi Bhattacharya and Pran and has music by Salil Chowdhury. ...

'', ''

Devdas ''Devdas'' ( bn, দেবদাস, transliterated as ''Debdās'') is a Bengali romance novel written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. The story pivots a tragic triangle linking Devdas, an archetypal lover in viraha (separation); Paro, his forbidden ...

'', ''

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 Johnny ...

'', '' Sujata'', '' Parakh'' and '' Bandini'', making him an important director of

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. Inspired by Italian neo-realistic cinema, he made ''Do Bigha Zamin'' after watching

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

's''

Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' ( it, Ladri di biciclette; sometimes known in the United States as ''The Bicycle Thief'') is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post- World ...

'' (1948). His work is particularly known for his mise en scène which he employed to portray

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

. He won a number of awards throughout his career, including eleven

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

, 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 ...

, and the International Prize of the

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 o ...

. ''

'' won 9

in 1958, a record held for 37 years.

Biography

Bimal Roy was born on 12 July 1909, to a

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 ...

Baidya Baidya or Vaidya is a Hindu community located in Bengal. Baidyas, a caste (''jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks were drawn primarily, b ...

family in Suapur,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

, which was then part of the

Eastern Bengal and Assam Eastern Bengal and Assam was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India between 1905 and 1912. Headquartered in the city of Dacca, it covered territories in what are now Bangladesh, Northeast India and Northern West Bengal. Hist ...

province of

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 is now part of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He produced many movies in

and

Hindi 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 de ...

Career

Bimal Roy moved to

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 ...

and entered the field of cinema as a camera assistant with New Theatres Pvt. Ltd. During this time, he assisted director

P.C. Barua Pramathesh Chandra Barua (24 October 1903 – 29 November 1951) was an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter of Indian films in the pre-independence era, born in Gauripur, Assam, Gauripur, Dhubri district, Dhubri, Assam. Early life Barua wa ...

as Publicity Photographer, on the hit 1935 film ''

'', starring

K.L. Saigal Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centred in Kolkata during Saigal's time, but is ...

. In the 1940s and 1950s Roy was part of the parallel cinema movement in post-war India. He collaborated on ''Anjangarh'' (1948), one of the last major films of the New Theatres, however, the Kolkata-based film industry was now on the decline, thus Roy shifted his base to Bombay (now Mumbai), along with his team in 1950, which included

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 ...

(editor),

Nabendu Ghosh Nabendu Ghosh (27 March 1917 – 15 December 2007) was an Indian author in Bengali literature, and screenwriter. He has written screenplays of classic Bollywood movies like, Sujata, Bandini, Devdas, Majhli Didi, Abhimaan and Teesri Kasam. He ...

(screenwriter), Asit Sen (assistant director),

Kamal Bose Kamal Bose (1915–1995) was an Indian cinematographer, who shot most of Bimal Roy classics, including '' Parineeta'' (1953), ''Do Bigha Zamin'' (1953), '' Bandini'' (1963), ''Devdas'' (1955) and '' Sujata'' (1960). He successful transitioned i ...

(cinematographer) and later,

Salil Chaudhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This in ...

(music director), and by 1952 he had restarted the second phase of his career with ''Maa'' (1952), for

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. After Ra ...

. He was famous for his romantic-realist melodramas that took on important social issues while still being entertaining. He was a filmmaker of great and in-depth understanding of human strengths and weaknesses. In 1959, he was a member of the jury at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival. He died of cancer on 7 January 1966 at the age of 56. He was survived by four children: daughters Rinki Bhattacharya, Yashodhara Roy and Aparajita Sinha, and his only son, Joy Roy. His eldest daughter,

Rinki Bhattacharya Rinki Roy Bhattacharya (born 1942) is an Indian writer, columnist and documentary filmmaker. Daughter of film director Bimal Roy, she was married to Basu Bhattacharya and collaborated on his films. She is the vice-chairperson of the Children's F ...

, married the director

Basu Bhattacharya Basu Bhattacharya (1934–19 June 1997) was an Indian film director of Hindi films. He is perhaps best known for his 1966 film ''Teesri Kasam'', starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman (based on the short story "Maare Gaye Gulfam" by Phanishw ...

against the wishes of both their families. The marriage collapsed within a few years, but resulted in the birth of a son, the actor and screenplay writer

Aditya Bhattacharya Aditya Bhattacharya (born 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter, most known for his feature film, ''Raakh'' (1989), starring Aamir Khan and Pankaj Kapur, which garnered three National Film Awards. He is the son of film director Basu ...

. Rinki Bhattacharya now heads the Bimal Roy Memorial Committee.

Awards

Bimal Roy has received several awards. ;

* 1953:

Filmfare Award for Best Film The Filmfare Award for Best Film is given by the '' Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The award was first given in 1954. Here is a list of the award winners and the nominees of the respective years. E ...

– ''

'' * 1953:

Filmfare Award for Best Director The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in Hindi cinema. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year. Superlatives Bimal Roy has the r ...

– ''Do Bigha Zamin'' * 1954: Filmfare Award for Best Director – '' Parineeta'' * 1955: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''

'' * 1958: Filmfare Award for Best Film – ''

'' * 1958: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''Madhumati'' * 1959: Filmfare Award for Best Film – '' Sujata'' * 1959: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''Sujata'' * 1960: Filmfare Award for Best Director – '' Parakh'' * 1963: Filmfare Award for Best Film – '' Bandini'' * 1963: Filmfare Award for Best Director – ''Bandini'' ;

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

: All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film – ''

'' *

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

: All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film – ''

'' *

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

: Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Hindi – ''

'' * 1958: President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi – ''

'' *

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

: All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film – '' Sujata'' *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

: Best Feature Film in Hindi – '' Bandini'' ;

Won International Prize: *

for ''

'' Nominated for Grand Prize of the Festival: *

for ''

'' 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 ''

'' *

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

for '' Sujata''

Music

Bimal Roy usually alternated between music directors

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...

and

S.D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. A member of the Tripura royal family, he started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one o ...

. His films featured beautiful and memorable songs, rendered by all the top playback singers of the day. Some of the notable songs from Roy's films include: * "Jalte Hain Jiske Liye" from '' Sujata'' (1959), sung by

Talat Mahmood Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) was an Indian playback singer who is considered one of the popular male Indian film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a great deal in actin ...

* "Chali Radhe Rani" from '' Parineeta'' (1953), sung by

Manna Dey Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey, was an internationally acclaimed and celebrated Indian playback singer, music director, and a musician. As a classical vocalist, he belonged to the Bhen ...

* "Aa Ri Aa Nindiya" from ''

'' (1953), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

* "Ab Aage Teri Marzi" from ''

'' (1955), music by S.D. Burman, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "Aan Milo Aan Milo Shyam Sabere" from ''Devdas'' (1955), music by S.D. Burman, sung by

Geeta Dutt Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian playback singer and a famous Hindi and Bengali classical artist, born in Faridpur before the Partition of India. She found particular prominence as a ...

* "Dil Tadap Tadap Ke Keh Raha" from ''

'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar * "Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam Haseen" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by

Mukesh Mukesh is an epithet for the Hindu god Shiva, and literally means "conqueror of the Muka demon". It also means god of 3 worlds, heaven, hell & earth, which in turn represents Hindu god Shiva. It is commonly used as a male given name in India. Peopl ...

* "Aaja Re Pardesi" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "Ghadi Ghadi Mora Dil Dhadake" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by

* "Zulmi Sang Aankh Ladi" from ''Madhumati'' (1958), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "O Sajana Barkha Bahaar" from '' Parakh'' (1960), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar * "Mora Gora Ang Lai Le" from '' Bandini'' (1963), music by S.D. Burman, sung by Lata Mangeshkar

Legacy

Bimal Roy's influence was far-reaching, both in

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

and

world cinema World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...

. In Indian cinema, his influence extended to both mainstream commercial

and the emerging

Parallel Cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema ...

. His film ''

'' (1953) was the first film to successfully straddle art and commercial cinema. It was a commercial and critical success, winning the International Prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. As a result, the film's success paved the way for the Indian New Wave. In commercial cinema, the most influential film he directed was perhaps ''

'' (1958), his first and only collaboration with

Ritwik Ghatak Ritwik Kumar Ghatak (; 4 November 19256 February 1976) was a noted Indian film director, screenwriter, and playwright. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Tapan Sinha and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembe ...

(who wrote the screenplay), and one of the earliest films to deal with

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

. It is believed to have been the source of inspiration for many later works dealing with the theme of reincarnation in Indian cinema,

Indian television The television industry in India is very diverse and produces thousands of programs in many of the Indian languages. More than half of all Indian households own a television. As of 2016, the country had over 857 channels of which 184 were pay ...

, and perhaps world cinema. It may have been the source of inspiration for the American film ''

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud ''The Reincarnation of Peter Proud'' is a 1975 American psychological horror film directed by J. Lee Thompson, and starring Michael Sarrazin, Margot Kidder, and Jennifer O'Neill. It follows a university professor who, after experiencing a seri ...

'' (1975) and the Hindi film '' Karz'' (1980), both of which dealt with reincarnation and have been influential in their respective cultures. ''Karz'' in particular was remade several times: as the

Kannada film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' directe ...

Yuga Purusha A ''yuga'', in Hinduism, is generally used to indicate an age of time. In the ''Rigveda'', a ''yuga'' refers to generations, a long period, a very brief period, or a yoke (joining of two things). In the ''Mahabharata'', the words ''yuga'' and ...

'' (1989), the

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

'' Enakkul Oruvan'' (1984), and more recently the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film '' Karzzzz'' (2008). ''Karz'' may have also inspired the American film '' Chances Are'' (1989). The most recent film to be directly inspired by ''Madhumati'' is the hit Bollywood film ''

Om Shanti Om ''Om Shanti Om'' (transl. ''Peace Be With You'') is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language fantasy romance film written and directed by Farah Khan, co-written by Mayur Puri and Mushtaq Shiekh, and produced by Gauri Khan under the banner of Red Chillies E ...

'' (2007), which led to Roy's daughter

accusing the film of plagiarism and threatening legal action against its producers. Bimal Roy discovered and gave a break to many children, such as

Asha Parekh Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...

'','' Sona Mastan Mirza,

Baby Farida Farida Devi, also known as Farida Dadi or Baby Farida, is an Indian actress in Hindi-language films and television serials. Career She started her career as a child actor in films in the 60s and was the most sought-after child actress. She mad ...

, & Baby Sonu (Bablani), who would later become quite famous. Bimal Roy's films continue to be screened at major national and international film festivals in India, Europe and North America. His films are being restored and digitised by the

National Film Archive of India The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) was established as a media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in February 1964. It is was a member of the International Federation of Film Archives. In March 2022, it was merged with ...

(NFAI) at Pune. In July 2014,

Prince of Wales Museum Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, (CSMVS) originally named Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, is a museum in Mumbai (Bombay) which documents the history of India from prehistoric to modern times. It was founded during Briti ...

, Mumbai hosted an exhibition; ''Bimal Roy: Life & Times'', organised in collaboration with his children. The exhibits included screening of the films; ''Madhumati'', ''Sujata'' and ''Bandini'', besides film posters, costumes and memorabilia, including an Arriflex camera used to shoot ''Devdas'' and ''Sujata''. The

Bimal Roy Memorial Trophy The Bimal Roy Memorial Trophy honor experienced artists and other contributors from the Indian film industry as well as a young filmmaker. It has been awarded every year since 1997, by the Bimal Roy Memorial & Film Society. The Trophy is named afte ...

has been awarded every year since 1997, by the Bimal Roy Memorial & Film Society to honor both experienced artists and other contributors from the Indian film industry as well as new and upcoming outstanding young filmmakers. A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by

India Post India Post is a government-operated postal system in India, part of the Department of Post under the Ministry of Communications. Generally known as the Post Office, it is the most widely distributed postal system in the world. Warren Hastings ha ...

to honour him on 8 January 2007.

Filmography

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Bimal Roy Memorial website

Bimal Roy Online Museum
*
Bimal Roy Life and Filmography
on Indian Cine {{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Bimal 1909 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Indian film directors Bengali Hindus Bengali film directors Hindi-language film directors University of Calcutta alumni People from Dhaka Hindi film producers Film directors from Kolkata Film producers from Kolkata Filmfare Awards winners