Srijit Mukherji
| Srijit Mukherji | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 September 1977 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Director, Actor, Lyricist, Economist |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Partner(s) | Divorced[1] |
Srijit Mukherji (Bengali: সৃজিত মুখোপাধ্যায়; born 23 September 1977) is an Indian film director, actor, and screenwriter who predominantly works in Bengali cinema. He came to the limelight after directing his first feature film Autograph (2010) which was a critical and commercial success. He has made eight films, as of December 2015: Baishe Srabon, Hemlock Society, Mishawr Rawhoshyo, Jaatishwar, Chotushkone, Nirbaak and Rajkahini. His films have mostly garnered positive reviews from critics, and great audience response. His fifth film Jaatishwar won 4 national awards at India's 61st National Film Awards (2014). He has won the National Film Award for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for his sixth film Chotushkone at India's 62nd National Film Awards. His eighth film Rajkahini became an official selection at 12 International Film Festivals including Indian Panorama at IFFI 2015, IFF of Kerala (Competition Section), IFF at Mumbai and Imagine India IFF at Madrid; and is also slated to be remade into a Hindi film titled Begum Jaan with Vidya Balan in 2016.
Early life
Mukherji completed his schooling from Dolna Day School, Kolkata and South Point High School, Kolkata, before studying economics at Presidency College. He went on to complete his MA and M Phil in environmental economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University,[2] parallelly working as a social scientist in the Urban Transport and Pollution Sector with TERI in New Delhi. He quit his PhD while in his first year, to join IRI Symphony, Bangalore as an econometrician and business analyst. After working in Bangalore, and a brief stint in Milan he quit his job to actively pursue theatre and films.[3]
Career
Even while working as an economist and statistician, he was actively involved with the English professional theatre circuit in Delhi and Bangalore. He has acted in Madness, adapted from Paulo Coelho's Veronica Decides To Die; Manoj Mitra's The Orchard of Banchharam; Badal Sircar's The Other Side of History; Sunil Ganguly's Pratidwandi – The Adversary, adapted for the stage from Satyajit Ray's film of the same name and Lucknow 76. He wrote and directed Mindgame, an Indian adaptation of Reginald Rose's Twelve Angry Men, at the Alliance Francaise De Bangalore in 2006. In April 2008, he formed his own troupe, Pandora's Act, whose first production, Feluda Pherot! at Rangashankara in July 2008 was a runaway success and was the first ever non-canonical dramatisation of Satyajit Ray's sleuth Feluda.[2] Barun Chanda, Ray's leading man in Seemabodhho, and Parambrata Chatterjee, the screen Topshe and film youth icon, starred in this production. In 2009, he wrote, directed and acted in the English play Checkmate, a non-canonical re-interpretation of Byomkesh Bakshi, Saradindu Bandopadhyay's sleuth.[4][5] He was an assistant director, lyricist and actor in both Anjan Dutt's Madly Bangalee and Aparna Sen's Iti Mrinalini, in 2009.[6] He has also written lyrics for films like Cross Connection, Le Chakka and Josh, TV serials like Coffee and More and Dadagiri and non-film albums of Usha Uthup.
2010–2012
In 2010 Mukherji directed his debut feature film, the award-winning blockbuster – Autograph which was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. The film won 41 awards and was an official selection at Abu Dhabi International Film Festival 2010, MIAAC Film Festival in New York 2010, Glasgow International Film Festival 2011 and London Indian Film Festival 2011.[4]
In the same year he also made his acting debut on Bengali television in the Rituparno Ghosh scripted mega serial Gaaner Opare, produced by Ideas Entertainment.[7]
His work in 2011 included a major role in Anindya Banerjee's Chaplin starring Rudranil Ghosh and his second film, Baishe Srabon starring Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Raima Sen, Abir Chatterjee and director Gautam Ghose, who returned to acting after a hiatus of 29 years. Baishe Srabon was recently the official selection at the Dubai International Film Festival and the closing film at the London Indian Film Festival, and had a 105-day run at the box office making it the biggest blockbuster of the year. Baishe Srabon has won 41 awards. His third feature film was Hemlock Society, a romantic satire set at the backdrop of a school which teaches aspirants how to successfully commit suicide. It featured Parambrata Chatterjee and Koel Mallick and won 21 awards.
2013–2016
Mukherji's fourth film, Mishawr Rawhoshyo, based on Kakababu with Prasenjit Chattopadhyay playing the lead character has been declared as one of the biggest blockbusters ever and the highest earning urban mainstream film. He has recently acted in films like Dutta Vs Dutta, Bapi Bari Jaa and the national award winning Shobdo. His fifth film Jaatishwar is generally considered to be the best in his career and most critically acclaimed. It is the musical bridge between two centuries of Bengali culture and a biopic cum a musical cum a reincarnation drama. At the 61st National Awards 2014, the highest film honour in India, it won 4 national awards for Music Direction, Playback Singing, Costume and Make up. This was the highest tally for a film in India this year, and the second highest ever for a Bengali film. It also swept the Mirchi Music Awards in 2015 winning 7 awards. The following year at the 62nd National Awards 2015, Chotushkone won him the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay awards, along with winning the Best Cinematography.
He also received the Young Achiever Award from Rotary International, the prestigious Shera Bangali Award from ABP Anando and the Shoilojanando Mukhopadhyay Memorial Award in 2012 for his contribution in the field of film direction. In 2013 he received the Uttam Kumar Memorial Award from the Government of West Bengal becoming the youngest director to achieve this. He has also received the oldest film award in India, the BFJA award, for remarkable contribution to Bengali Cinema in the last few years.[8]
2017
Mukherji is going to make his directorial debut in Bollywood with the film Begum Jaan. Vidya Balan plays the lead role of a brothel's madam during the partition of India in 1947.[9][10]
Filmography
As director
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Autograph | Yes | Yes | |
| 2011 | Baishe Srabon | Yes | Yes | |
| 2012 | Hemlock Society (film) | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | Mishawr Rawhoshyo | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | Jaatishwar | Yes | Yes | Dag Creative Media |
| Chotushkone | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2015 | Nirbaak | Yes | Yes | |
| Rajkahini | Yes | Yes | ||
| 2016 | Zulfiqar | Yes | Yes | |
| 2017 | Begum Jaan | Yes | Yes | |
Others
References
- ↑ "নারী জানি না, অনেক ছবি হাতে". আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- 1 2 Sen, Jaideep. "Retirement Holmes". Time Out Bengaluru. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ↑ Das, Mohua (21 January 2009). "Think like a sleuth". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- 1 2 "Interview – SRIJIT MUKHERJEE". Washington Bangla Radio. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ↑ Das, Mohua (15 May 2009). "Playpreview". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ↑ Chakrabarty, Pooja. "'Autograph is not a remake of Nayak'". ILK. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ↑ Sen, Zinia (28 October 2010). "Acting is my first love: Srijit". Times of India. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ↑ "Hemlock is far from a morbid film: Srijit Mukherji". Times of India. 24 March 2012. p. 3. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ↑ "Vidya Balan on the write track with Kamala Das". Mumbai Mirror. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ↑ "Srijit Mukherji makes his acting debut with 'Begum Jaan' - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 October 2016.