Bimal Roy

Bimal Roy was born on 12 July 1909, to a Bengali Baidya family in Suapur, Dhaka, which was then part of the Eastern Bengal and Assam province of British India and is now part of Bangladesh.{{Cite news |title=Bimal Roy |url=http://dailyasianage.com/news/130162/?regenerate |access-date=2022-12-17 |work=The Asian Age |location=Bangladesh |language=en}} He produced many movies in Bengali and Hindi.

File:With Bimal Roy.jpg]]

Bimal Roy moved to Calcutta and entered the field of cinema as a camera assistant with New Theatres Pvt. Ltd. During this time, he assisted director P.C. Barua as Publicity Photographer, on the hit 1935 film Devdas, starring K.L. Saigal. 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 (editor), Nabendu Ghosh (screenwriter), Asit Sen (assistant director), Kamal Bose (cinematographer) and later, Salil Chaudhury (music director), and by 1952 he had restarted the second phase of his career with Maa (1952), for Bombay Talkies.{{cite news |title=Memories and melodies of a golden era|url=http://hindu.com/2001/04/13/stories/09130225.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029215922/http://hindu.com/2001/04/13/stories/09130225.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 October 2013 |date=13 April 2001 |work=The Hindu|access-date=29 April 2013}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1959 |title=1st Moscow International Film Festival (1959) |access-date=27 October 2012 |work=MIFF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116210640/http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru/miff34/eng/archives/?year=1959 |archive-date=16 January 2013 }}

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, married the director Basu Bhattacharya 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. Rinki Bhattacharya now heads the Bimal Roy Memorial Committee.{{cite web |title=First in Mirror: Enter Roy's world |work=Mumbai Mirror |url=http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/First-in-Mirror-Enter-Roys-world/articleshow/36861885.cms |author=Reema Gehi |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=7 September 2014}} and his great-granddaughter Drisha Acharya married Karan Deol

Bimal Roy has received several awards.

;Filmfare Awards

• 1953: Filmfare Award for Best Film – {{Lang|hi-latn|Do Bigha Zamin}}
• 1953: Filmfare Award for Best Director – {{Lang|hi-latn|Do Bigha Zamin}}
• 1954: Filmfare Award for Best Director – Parineeta
• 1955: Filmfare Award for Best Director – Biraj Bahu
• 1958: Filmfare Award for Best Film – Madhumati
• 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

;National Film Awards

• 1953: All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film – {{Lang|hi-latn|Do Bigha Zamin}}{{cite web |url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/1st_nff_1954.pdf |title=1st National Film Awards |publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals |access-date=21 August 2011}}
• 1954: All India Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film – Biraj Bahu{{cite web |url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/2nd_nff_1955.pdf |title=2nd National Film Awards |publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals |access-date=23 August 2011}}
• 1955: Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Hindi – Devdas{{cite web |url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/3rd_nff_1956.pdf |title=3rd National Film Awards |publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals |access-date=1 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105232134/http://dff.nic.in/2011/3rd_nff_1956.pdf |archive-date=5 November 2013}}
• 1958: President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi – Madhumati{{cite web |url=http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm6thNFAAward.aspx |title=6th National Film Awards |publisher=International Film Festival of India |access-date=3 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020054317/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm6thNFAAward.aspx |archive-date=20 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}
• 1959: All India Certificate of Merit for the Third Best Feature Film – Sujata{{cite web |url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/7th_nff.pdf |title=7th National Film Awards |publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals |access-date=4 September 2011}}
• 1963: Best Feature Film in Hindi – Bandini

;Cannes Film Festival

Won International Prize:{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3829/year/1954.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Two Acres of Land |access-date=25 January 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204192851/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3829/year/1954.html |archive-date=4 February 2012 }}

• 1953 for {{Lang|hi-latn|Do Bigha Zamin}}

Nominated for Grand Prize of the Festival:

• 1953 for {{Lang|hi-latn|Do Bigha Zamin}}

Nominated for {{Lang|fr|Palme d'Or|italic=no}}:

• 1955 for Biraj Bahu
• 1960 for Sujata

Bimal Roy usually alternated between music directors Salil Chowdhury and S.D. Burman. 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
• "Chali Radhe Rani" from Parineeta (1953), sung by Manna Dey
• "Aa Ri Aa Nindiya" from {{Lang|hi-latn|Do Bigha Zamin}} (1953), music by Salil Chowdhury, sung by Lata Mangeshkar
• "Ab Aage Teri Marzi" from Devdas (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 Manna Dey, Geeta Dutt
• "Dil Tadap Tadap Ke Keh Raha" from Madhumati (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
• "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 Lata Mangeshkar
• "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

Bimal Roy's influence was far-reaching, both in Indian cinema and world cinema. In Indian cinema, his influence extended to both mainstream commercial Hindi cinema and the emerging Parallel Cinema. His film {{Lang|hi-latn|Do Bigha Zamin}} (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.{{cite web|title=Do Bigha Zamin: Seeds of the Indian New Wave |author=Srikanth Srinivasan |publisher=Dear Cinema |date=4 August 2008 |url=http://dearcinema.com/review-do-bigha-zamin-bimal-roy |access-date=13 April 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115204002/http://dearcinema.com/review-do-bigha-zamin-bimal-roy |archive-date=15 January 2010 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/Films-De-Dr/Do-Bigha-Zamin.html |title=Do Bigha Zamin |website=Filmreference.com |date=3 August 1980 |access-date=13 November 2018}}[http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/India-TRENDS-AND-GENRES.html Trends and genres]. Filmreference.com. Retrieved 13 November 2018.

In commercial cinema, the most influential film he directed was perhaps{{According to whom|date=June 2015}} Madhumati (1958), his first and only collaboration with Ritwik Ghatak (who wrote the screenplay), and one of the earliest films to deal with reincarnation. It is believed{{By whom|date=June 2015}} to have been the source of inspiration for many later works dealing with the theme of reincarnation in Indian cinema, Indian television, and perhaps world cinema. It may have been the source of inspiration for the American film The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) and the Hindi film Karz (1980), both of which dealt with reincarnation and have been influential in their respective cultures.{{Cite book |last=Doniger |first=Wendy |title=The woman who pretended to be who she was: myths of self-imitation |chapter=Chapter 6: Reincarnation |pages=112–136 [135] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=0-19-516016-9}} Karz in particular was remade several times: as the Kannada film Yuga Purusha (1989), the Tamil film Enakkul Oruvan (1984), and more recently the Bollywood 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 (2007), which led to Roy's daughter Rinki Bhattacharya 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, Sona Mastan Mirza, Baby Farida, & Baby Sonu (Bablani), who would later become quite famous.{{Cite web|date=12 July 2020|title=BIMAL ROY – a daughter remembers|url=https://filmcriticscircle.com/journal/a-daughter-remembers-bimal-roy/|access-date=26 October 2020|website=Journal of Indian Cinema|language=en-GB}}

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 (NFAI) at Pune. In July 2014, Prince of Wales Museum, 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 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.

File:Bimal Roy 2007 stamp of India.jpg

A postage stamp, bearing his face, was released by India Post to honour him on 8 January 2007.

• {{cite book|author=Rinki Roy Bhattacharya|title=Bimal Roy: The Man who spoke in pictures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tq4aVRUoDcC|date=2009|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-81-8475-818-4}}
• {{cite book|author=Rinki Roy Bhattacharya|title=Bimal Roy's Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes|year=2014|publisher=Rupa Publications|isbn=978-8129129161}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://bimalroymemorial.org/default/ Bimal Roy Memorial website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110625171600/http://www.bimalroy.org/ Bimal Roy Online Museum]
• {{IMDb name|0746950}}
• [https://indiancine.ma/grid/year/name=Bimal_Roy Bimal Roy Life and Filmography] on Indian Cine

{{Bimal Roy}}

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Category:1909 births

Category:1966 deaths

Category:20th-century Indian people

Category:Bengali Hindus

Category:Bengali film directors

Category:Hindi-language film directors

Category:University of Calcutta alumni

Category:People from Dhaka

Category:Hindi film producers

Category:Indian film directors

Category:Indian film producers

Category:Filmfare Awards winners