Indian film director and screenwriter
| Moni Bhattacharjee | |
|---|---|
| Born | Moni Bhattacharya Bengal Presidency, Birth India |
| Other names | M. Bhattacharjee |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1958–1970 |
Moni Bhattacharjee was an Indian film director and screenwriter of the 1960s who directed Hindi language films.
Career
Bhattacharjee started as an assistant to Bimal Roy on many classic films of the 1950s. After the success of the film Madhumati (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 film, Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), which starred Sunil Dutt and Waheeda Rehman and was among the "Official Selection" at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival.
The Hindu 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 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 The Hindu newspaper.
Filmography
| Assistant director | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Producer | Notes |
| 1953 | Parineeta | Ashok Kumar | |
| 1953 | Do Bigha Zamin | Bimal Roy | Filmfare Award for Best Film |
| 1954 | Biraj Bahu | Hiten Choudhury | |
| 1958 | Madhumati | Bimal Roy Productions | Highest grossing film of 1958. It garnered 9 Filmfare Awards |
| 1958 | Yahudi | Savak B. Vacha | |
| Director | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Producer | Notes |
| 1960 | Usne Kaha Tha | Bimal Roy | |
| 1963 | Mujhe Jeene Do | Sunil Dutt | Won Filmfare Award for Best Actor |
| 1967 | Jaal | A.R. Khan | Also scriptwriter |
| 1968 | Baazi | Tony Walker | |
| 1971 | Chaahat | G.M. Roshan | |
Awards and nominations
- 1964, nominated for Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival for Mujhe Jeene Do
References
- "Usne Kaha Tha 1961". The Hindu. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ Bharatan, Raju (1969). "Indian Film Scene". The Illustrated Weekly of India. 9 (3): 47.
- ^ "Mujhe Jeene Do (1963)". The Hindu. 13 May 2010.
- ^ Official Selection 1964 Cannes Film Festival
- Link. United India Periodicals. 1963. p. 37. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
