Ahindra Choudhury

Ahindra Choudhury was a popular face in the Bengali film industry. Greatly known for Bicharak (1948), Neelachaley Mahaprabhu (1957) and Shravan Sandhya (1974); this great personality was an actor, director, and a theater performer. By displaying his compelling acting skills in Rooplekha (1934), Birodhi (1935), and Balidan (1935), he made his way to the Hindi film world and started earning fame.

Ahindra Choudhury along with Prafulla Ghosh in 1921 co-founded the Photo Play Syndicate, a bioscope show organization based in Kolkata. By his contribution to the Indian cinema, he gained fame everywhere. He won the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1958 and the prestigious Padma Shri in 1963. Apart from his acting skills, he also tried his luck with story writing and film direction. Born to a Bengali family on August 6, 1896, Choudhury attained education from Kolkata (then Calcutta) itself. After completing his studies in 1911, he entered into the film industry by starting the Photo Play Syndicate. In 1923, he wrote his first and only screenplay for the feature film Soul of a Slave, where he was also the lead actor. In 1931, he did a role-play in Rishir Prem, by which he set foot in the acting world as an actor.

He acted in as many as 89 films earning reputation and applauses from critics and viewers of the country. Though he retired from acting in 1957, he did his final role-play in Shravan Sandhya (1974). He also directed two films namely Krishna Sakha (1927) and Vipranarayana (1937) and wrote the script for Soul of a Slave (1923). Choudhury was a recipient of the Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) from the Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He was also honored with the post of guest lecturer at the University of Calcutta, Kolkata. After taking pleasure of his glorious 80 years, this great personality breathed his last on November 4, 1974.