Anjan Das

Directing

Born: November 17, 1949
Died: June 2, 2014 (age 64)

Winner of 2 national awards and multiple international awards, Das started his film career in the mid-1970s with two documentaries named The Art of Anant Malakar and Tripura. His first feature was Sainik (Soldier). The film was shown in various international film festivals including Berlinale in 1976. Other notable ones were Mannheim, Tehran, Cracow, Mongolia, and Yugoslavia, and it was invited to San Remo Film Competition in Italy, where Das became the youngest filmmaker ever to compete at the prestigious film fest.

Thereafter several documentaries followed, notable among them are those on Indian Oil Corp., Hindustan Lever, ONGC, Bengal Emta Coal Mines, Industrial Development Corp. of Orissa Ltd., Andrew Yule etc.

In 2001, he made the feature film ‘Saanjhbatir Rupkathara’ (Strokes and Silhouettes), which was picked up by Columbia Tristar for distribution, making it the first regional film to be picked by the Hollywood kingpin in history. The film was showcased at several international film festivals including Montreal World Film Festival, BFI London, Rome, Rotterdam, Edmonton, Madrid, Singapore, etc. The film was chosen as one of the 7 best films of that year at BFI London Film Festival. It proved to be a massive commercial success as well. The film’s poetic, lyrical, and unique aesthetic treatment earned Das the tag of creating Kobita Cholochitro (Poetry on Celluloid) that would reflect in all his films in future. Then came the feature film ‘Iti Srikanta’ (Yours truly, Srikanta) which won the National Award for Best Audiography in 2004. It was shown in the Indian Panorama of International Festival of India 2004 and was shown in various international film fests such as Rotterdam, BFI London, Edinburgh, Brisbane, Kerala, Singapore, Commonwealth Film Festival, Manchester, Third Eye Asian Film Festival, Imagineindia International Film Festival (in competition), Madrid, etc.

In 2006, he made the film ‘Faltu’ (The Saga of Ranirghat) which also did it’s usual round of festivals and also got the National Award for The Best Feature Film on Family Welfare. It was in competition at Montreal World Film Festival.

In 2007, he made ‘Jara Brishtitey Bhije Chilo’ (Drenched in the …rain) which fetched him The Special Director’s Award at Almaty International Film Festival (Shaken’s Stars), Kazakhstan and two awards from Imagine India Film Festival in Madrid, Spain - Best Actress and Special Jury Award for The Director. This film also was an entry in the Indian Panorama of International Film Festival of India 2007.

Incidentally, he has won 11 Bengal Film Journalist's Association (BFJA) awards for the last 3 films.

His documentary on the great rebel poet, Kazi Nazrul Islam, produced by the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India and was inaugurated by the External Affairs minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee at a function at Habitat centre, New Delhi. His last film Ajana Batas (The Mystic Wind) starring Paoli Dam and based on Joy Goswami's novel, had its World Premiere at International Film Festival of India 2013 (Indian Panorama). The film was released 9 months after his death. Anjan Das' trademark was that all his films were based on literature. 3 of his films are based on eminent poet Joy Goswami's novels. All his films are tagged as lyrical and poetic.