O P Dutta

O P Dutta is one of India’s foremost cinematographers. His life’s work has marked an era in the Hindi film industry. Dutta was born in Gujranwala in British India. He began his extensive career in cinema as a director for the movie ‘Pyaar Ki Jeet’ in 1948. His debut movie became a great success in the industry and also introduced the would-be star, Suraiya. He continued making cinematic masterpieces like ‘Ek Nazar (1951),’ ‘Lagan (1955),’ and ‘Aangan (1959).’ He gradually moved to other film ventures like writing screenplays and dialogues for movies. Several of his stories went on to win awards and critical acclaim for their intense narrative.

He is credited as the writer of ‘Kshatriya (1993),’ ‘Refugee (2000),’ and ‘LOC: Kargil (2003),’ among many others. Dutta wrote most of his movies for his son, J.P.Dutta, who was also a leading director in Bollywood. He composed his last screenplay in 2006 for ‘ Umrao Jaan Click to look into! >> Read More... .’

He received the International Indian Film Academy Award as well as the Filmfare Award for the movie Refugee in 2001. His contribution to Indian film was recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Filmfare Award in 2006. In the early 50s’, Dutta played a major part in setting up a studio in Karachi post Independence. He also directed one of his movies, Anokhi, at the studio. The world lost him to a fatal case of Pneumonia in the year 2012. Many celebrities and film personalities came together to express their heartfelt sorrow at the death of a man so rich in compassion, and experience.