K. Bikram Singh

K. Bikram Singh (26 May 1938 – 12 May 2013) was an Indian politician and filmmaker, most known for his documentary film, Satyajit Ray Introspections (1991)[1] and feature film, Tarpan (1994). After a short stint as a lecturer in history, he joined the Indian Railway Traffic Service in 1962. During his service with the Government of India, he has held a number of important positions, including Joint Director, Food Corporation of India, Joint Director Planning (Railway Board), Joint Director Film Festivals and Director, Film Policy in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India

Early life and background

Singh did his M.A. in Political Science in 1958 and M.A. in History in 1960 from University of Delhi.[2]

Career

Singh briefly taught history and joined the Indian Railway Traffic Service in 1962, where he worked for 21 years.[3] Initially he worked for Indian Railways and then for the Directorate of Film Festivals.[3] In 1983 Singh took voluntary retirement from Government of India service to focus on filmmaking.[2][3]

He made debut film as a director and screenwriter in 1994, Tarpan, starring Om Puri, Revathy and Manohar Singh in lead role. It was screened at Moscow International Film Festival, Montreal International Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival and Cairo International Film Festival.[4]

In addition to his films, Singh produced over sixty documentaries for film and television with a large numbers of films on painters and painting.[3]

In November 2008, his landmark book on the painter M.F. Husain called MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN was published. It reviews the artist’s work from 1947 to 2007. This has been hailed as a definitive book on the work of M.F. Husain till date and a major contribution to the writing on contemporary Indian art by people like E. Alkazi, Yashodhara Dalmia (Outlook), Gayatri Sinha (Asian Age), Aveek Sen (The Telegraph), Chitrapu Uday Bhaskar (The Hindu), Kishore Singh (Business Standard) and M.F. Husain himself.

He wrote a fortnightly column on life, society and the arts called BIMB PRATIBIMB in the reputed Hindi daily JANSATTA from 2001 to 2009. Two books of his articles in this column called ‘Kuchh Gamein Dauran’ and ‘Aur Bhi Gham Hain’ have been published. ‘Kuchh Gamein Dauran’ had won Sahityik Kriti Sammaan of Delhi Hindi Academy in 2005.

Since early 2008, he is also writing a column on arts, culture, literature and cinema in major Hindi daily Hindustan under the title PARTEIN. A collection of his articles in Hindustan has been published in book form called "Baaki Samay".

Personal life

Singh was married to Urmila Singh and had two children, a son Rishi and a daughter Ruchi.[3]

Partial filmography

Awards

Singh won an Aravindan Award as best debut director for Tarpan.[3]

References
  1. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/433295/Satyajit-Ray-Introspections/overview Satyajit Ray Introspections New York Times. Archived 7 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "K Bikram Singh Profile". Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  3. Indiantelevision.com - All About Cinema... - Filmmaker K Bikram Singh dies after prolonged sickness
  4. "K. Bikram Singh profile". Public Service Broadcasting Trust. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
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