Anjan Das

Winner of 2 national awards and multiple international awards, Anjan Das started his film career in the mid 70's with two documentaries named 'The art of Anant Malakar' and 'Tripura'. His first feature was 'Sainik' meaning Soldier. The film was shown in various International Film festivals including Berlin in 1976. Other notable ones were Mannheim, Tehran, Cracow, Mongolia, Yugoslavia and it was invited to San Remo Film Competition in Italy. 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. It was based on Joy Goswami's novel. The film was showcased at several international film festivals including Montreal World film festival, London, Rome, Rotterdam, Edmonton, Madrid, Singapore etc. The film was chosen as one of the 7 best films of that year at London Film Festival. The film was a commercial success as well as all the critics' darling, receiving rave reviews all over the world. Then came the feature film 'Iti Srikanta' (Yours truly, Srikanta), which was based on Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's novel 'Srikanta'. It won A National Award for Best Audiography in 2004 and at 2004 Anandalok Awards, Anjan Das took home the Best Director Award. It was the debut film of Bollywood actress Soha Ali Khan. It was shown in the Indian Panorama of International Festival Of India 2004 and was showcased at various international film fests such as Rotterdam, Edinburgh, Brisbane, Singapore,etc. In 2006, he made the critically acclaimed 'Faltu' (The Saga of Ranirghat) which did the usual round of festivals and also got A National Award for The Best Feature Film On Family Welfare at National Film Awards 2007. It was based on Syed Mustafa Siraj's novel 'Ranirghater Brittanto'. In 2007, he made 'Jara Brishtitey Bhijechilo' (Drenched in the ...rains) which fetched him The Special Director's Award at Almaty Film Festival,Kazakhstan and 2 awards from Madrid, Spain - Best Actress and Jury Special Award for The Director. It was also showcased under Indian Panorama at International Film Festival of India 2007. Incidentally, he has won 11 Bengal Film Journalist's Association awards (BFJA Awards) for the above-mentioned films. In 2008, he made a 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 The Habitat centre in New Delhi. Thereafter, he also made a few documentaries produced by PSBT and Films Division which include 'Maa durga' (On Goddess Durga) and 'Flow & Ebb' (On boatmen of Bengal) His feature film 'Swarger Nichey Manush' (People under Heaven) starring Rituparna Sengupta was showcased at various film festivals but is still awaiting commercial release. Incidentally, all the above films were shown in the OSIAN'S CINEFAN Festival, perhaps the largest showcase of films in India. His very popular film 'Achin Pakhi' (A Love Story) had its International Premiere at Cairo International film Festival 2010 and also at Indian Panorama of International Film Festival of India 2010. His next film 'Banshiwala'(The Flautist), based on Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay's novel of the same name, was highly acclaimed by the critics and won 2 international awards - Golden Kahuna Award at Honolulu Film Awards 2011 and Bronze Palm Award at Mexico International Film Festival 2011. It was also showcased at New Jersey International Film Festival. His next 'Bedeni' (The Snake-Charmer's Wife) was based on Tarashankar Bandopadhyay's novel and starred Rituparna Sengupta in a challenging role for which she earned widespread acclaim. 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). It also won him the Bronze Palm Award at Mexico International Film Festival 2014. It has been officially selected at Indian International Film Festival of Queensland 2014 and Belize International Film Festival 2014. The film has already garnered critical acclaim and is now awaiting its commercial release. 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.