Moni Bhattacharjee

Moni Bhattacharjee was an Indian film director and screenwriter of the 1960s who directed Hindi language films.

Moni Bhattacharjee
Born
Moni Bhattacharya

India, British Raj
Other namesM. Bhattacharjee
OccupationFilm director, screenwriter
Years active1958 - 1970

Career

Bhattacharjee started as an assistant to Bimal Roy on many classic films of the 1950s. After the success of the film Madhumati (1958), Bimal Roy asked him to direct Usne Kaha Tha, which Roy produced under Bimal Roy Productions label, thus starting Bhattacharjee's career as a fully fledged director.[1] However, Usne Kaha Tha itself was a "none too smooth takeoff".[2] Bhattacharjee went on to direct numerous films, and is best known for the dacoit film, Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), which starred Sunil Dutt and Waheeda Rehman[3] and was among the "Official Selection" at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival.[4]

The Hindu praised Mujhe Jeene Do, writing that the "brilliant synthesis of script, photography, music, lyrics, acting and direction sends you on an emotional rollercoaster".[3] The Illustrated Weekly of India stated that Bhattacharjee was "groomed in the Bimal Roy school", and that his first directorial efforts were not as successful as Mujhe Jeene Do, which "placed him in the top flight of young directors".[2] Of Mujhe Jeene Do, The Link wrote: "The moral of the film is legion, and the acting impeded by Moni Bhattacharjee's confused direction. Only one thing is left. Does it, in all its humbling messiness, ever touch the heart?"[5]

More recently, in 2010, Mujhe Jeene Do was described as a "classic" by The Hindu newspaper.[3]

Filmography
Assistant director
YearFilmProducerNotes
1953 Parineeta Ashok Kumar
1953 Do Bigha Zamin Bimal Roy Filmfare Award for Best Film
1954 Biraj Bahu Hiten Choudhury
1958 Madhumati Bimal Roy Productions Highest grossing film of 1958. It garnered 9 Filmfare Awards
1958 Yahudi Savak B. Vacha
Director
YearFilmProducerNotes
1960 Usne Kaha Tha Bimal Roy
1963 Mujhe Jeene Do Sunil Dutt Won Filmfare Award for Best Actor
1967 Jaal A.R. Khan Also scriptwriter
1968 Baazi Tony Walker
1971 Chaahat G.M. Roshan

Awards and nominations

References
  1. "Usne Kaha Tha 1961". The Hindu. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  2. Bharatan, Raju (1969). "Indian Film Scene". The Illustrated Weekly of India. 9 (3): 47.
  3. "Mujhe Jeene Do (1963)". The Hindu. 13 May 2010.
  4. Official Selection 1964 Cannes Film Festival
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