Basu Bhattacharya

{{Short description|Indian film director}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Basu Bhattacharya

| image = Basu Bhattacharya.gif

| imagesize = 200px

| caption =

| birth_date = 1934

| birth_place = Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India

| height =

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1997|06|19|1934}}{{cite news |title=Film-maker Basu Bhattacharya dead |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/jun/20basu.htm |accessdate=29 October 2018 |work=Rediff.com |date=20 June 1997}}

| death_place = Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

| birth_name =

| spouse = {{marriage|Rinki Bhattacharya|1961|1990|reason=div}}

| children = 3; including Aditya Bhattacharya

| awards = 1972: National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film (Anubhav)
1985 Filmfare Best Movie Award (Sparsh)

}}

Basu Bhattacharya (1934 – 19 June 1997) was an Indian film director of Hindi films.{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970621/17250833.html|title=Basuda, auteur of "sensitive" films dies at 62|date=21 June 1997|work=The Indian Express|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816033849/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19970621/17250833.html|archivedate=16 August 2010}}{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Hindi cinema|last=Gulzar |author-link=Gulzar |author2=Govind Nihalani |author2-link=Govind Nihalani |author3=Saibal Chatterjee |year=2003|publisher=(Encyclopædia Britannica (India) Pvt. Ltd), Popular Prakashan|isbn=81-7991-066-0 |page=532 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8y8vN9A14nkC&q=Aastha+1997+film&pg=PT556 }} 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 Phanishwar Nath 'Renu'), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in 1967. The most popular and critically acclaimed film which he directed remains Avishkaar, starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, which received five stars in Bollywood Guide Collections{{cite book|title=Collections|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5UqAAAAYAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Update Video Publication}} and for which Khanna received the Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1975.

In 1979, he produced Sparsh, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and the film also won the Filmfare Best Movie Award.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gomolo.com/9/national-film-awards-1979 |title=National Film Awards (1979) |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=22 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122145408/http://www.gomolo.com/9/national-film-awards-1979 |url-status=dead }} He served as president of the Indian Film Directors' Association from 1976 to 1979.{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&q=%22film+directors+association%22|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1135943189|website=GoogleBooks|page=64}} In 1981 he was a member of the jury at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1981 |title=12th Moscow International Film Festival (1981) |accessdate=2013-01-21 |work=MIFF |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421050907/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1981 |archivedate=21 April 2013}} None of his works were successful after 1983.

He started his career in 1958 by assisting Bimal Roy in films like Madhumati and Sujata and later married Bimal Roy's daughter, Rinki Bhattacharya, much to Bimal Roy's disapproval. This created a rift between him and his mentor.{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/vrimoviemasters/basu.html |title=A Homage to Basu Bhattacharya |accessdate=2008-08-13 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129190428/http://www.geocities.com/vrimoviemasters/basu.html |archivedate=29 January 2008}}[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010826/spectrum/tv.htm Father’s pictures] The Tribune, 26 August 2001. The couple had a son, the director Aditya Bhattacharya, and two daughters: Chimmu and Anwesha Arya, a writer. Later after much domestic abuse, his wife Rinki moved out in 1983, and the couple formally divorced in 1990. Rinki went on to edit an anthology on domestic violence in India, titled, Behind Closed Doors – Domestic Violence in India and became a successful writer, columnist and documentary filmmaker.[https://web.archive.org/web/20040621195025/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040530/asp/look/story_3298955.asp Can you beat that?] Telegraph, 30 May 2004.