Basu Chatterjee was an Indian film director and screenwriter. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmakers, such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, whom he assisted on Teesri Kasam. Like their films, his films dealt with light-hearted stories of middle-class families often in urban settings, focusing on marital and love relationships, with exceptions such as Ek Ruka Hua Faisla and Kamla Ki Maut, which delved into social and moral issues. He is best known for his films Us Paar, Chhoti Si Baat, Chitchor, Rajnigandha, Piya Ka Ghar, Khatta Meetha, Swami , Baton Baton Mein, Priyatama, Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Shaukeen, and Chameli Ki Shaadi, which was his last commercially successful movie. Chatterjee directed the Bengali filmHothath Brishti, which featured actors from both Bangladesh and India. The film featured Ferdous Ahmed from Bangladesh, and Priyanka Trivedi and Sreelekha Mitra from West Bengal. Chatterjee continued to cast Ahmed in subsequent Indian-Bengali films, including Chupi Chupi, Tak Jhal Mishti and Hotath Shedin, another joint production of Bangladesh and India. He wrote the script for the Bangladeshi film Ek Cup Cha, directed by Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul.
Early life
Basu Chatterjee was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. His middle class upbringing reflected in his movies that explored areas which were far removed from the glitz and glamour of the blockbusters of the time.
Career
In 1950s, Chatterjee arrived in Bombay and started his career as an illustrator and cartoonist for the weekly tabloid Blitz published by Russi Karanjia. He worked there for 18 years before changing career paths to filmmaking, when he assisted Basu Bhattacharya in the Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman starrer Teesri Kasam, which later won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Eventually, he made his directorial debut with Sara Akash in 1969, which won him the Filmfare Best Screenplay Award. Some of his most critically acclaimed films are Sara Akash, Piya Ka Ghar, Us Paar, Rajnigandha, Chhoti Si Baat, Chitchor, Swami, Khatta Meetha, Priyatama, Chakravyuha , Jeena Yahan, Baton Baton Mein, Apne Paraye, Shaukeen and Ek Ruka Hua Faisla. Other films include Ratnadeep, Safed Jhooth, Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Kamla Ki Maut and Triyacharitra. He has also directed many Bengali films such as Hothat Brishti, Hochcheta Ki and Hothat Shei Din. Chatterjee directed the television series Byomkesh Bakshi and Rajani for Doordarshan. He was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival in 1977 and a member of the International Film And Television Club of the Asian Academy of Film & Television. A retrospective of Chatterjee's work was held as part of the Kala Ghoda Art FestivalMumbai in February of 2011.
