Buddhadev Dasgupta

Born in British India in a Vaidya family, Buddhadeb Dasgupta is a filmmaker, screenplay writer as well as an author. His father was a doctor, and he has eight siblings. At the age of 12, he shifted from his hometown Anara in Southern West Bengal to Calcutta for prospects of education.

He completed his schooling from Dinabandhu School and is a graduate in economics from Scottish Church College; both are situated in Calcutta. He started his job as an economics professor at the University of Burdwan, Bardhaman and later taught at the City College in Calcutta.

He was a member of the Calcutta Film Society and the works of prestigious directors such as Charlie Chaplin Charles Chaplin popularly known as Charlie Chaplin >> Read More... , Akira Kurosawa, and Roberto Rossellini inspired him to take up direction. Gupta has directed many documentaries other than feature films. His first work as a director was a short documentary titled ‘The Continent of Love’ in 1968.

After a few more documentaries, he made a directorial debut in 1978 with ‘Dooratwa’ which was shot in just 16 days! ‘Dooratwa’ was based on story line revolving around the political and social reality of that time and the disgruntlement felt by the characters due to it. Other films on the same lines include ‘Grihajuddha’ and ‘Andhi Gali’.

After that, he worked on various storylines, and some of the best works consist of ‘Bagh Bahadur’. A film reflecting upon the adversities of the rural life. ‘Tahader Katha’ (a film based in the aftermath of India’s freedom struggle). ‘Charachar’ (an adaptation of Prafulla Roy’s novel and ‘ Uttara An Indian film actress, she does Tamil and Malayal >> Read More... ’ a thriller depicting violence and the human vices in the most subtle setting.

Gupta has a long list of awards bestowed upon him. ‘Charachar’ won the National Award for Best Film and was also nominated at the Berlin International Film Festival along with ‘Phera.' On the other hand, ‘Uttara’ won the National Award for Best Direction, was nominated for the Golden Lion and won Gupta the Special Director Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2000.

He is the recipient of the Golden Athena Award, Athens International Film Festival 2007 and the Lifetime Achievement Award, Spain International Film Festival 2008.