subject: Basu Chatterjee - Veteran Director Of Bollywood [print this page] Basu Chatterjee was born on 10th January 1930, in Ajmer, Rajasthan. He has a daughter Rupali Guha, who directed a film called AAMRAS in 2009. Basu Chatterjee started his career as a cartoonist and illustrator for a famous weekly tabloid Blitz. He worked as a cartoonist for 18 years.
His first step in Bollywood was as a film producer. He produced the film girl friend, in 1960. Later he assisted Basu bhattacharya on teesri kasam (1966) and govind saraiya on saraswatichandra (1968). Basu Chatterjee directorial debut was sara akash in 1969. Actor rakesh pandey made his debut with this film.
The film was based on a book ara akash, by author rajendra yadav. It is a coming of age tale of a young man who is forced to marry and what happens after that. The movie was a success. Basu Chatterjee won the filmfare award for best screenplay.
His next film was piya ka ghar in 1972. It starred jaya bachchan, anil dhawan and paintal. It was a remake of the marathi movie mumbaicha jawai (1970) directed by raja thakur. It a comedy revolving around a newly married couple trying to adjust to in a small crowded apartment in Mumbai, a big city.
The movie was a light hearted a success at the box office. In 1994, Basu Chatterjee directed triyacharitra. It starred om puri, rajeshwari sachdeva and naseeruddin shah. In 1997, he directed gudgudee. It starred anupam kher, jugal hansraj and pratibha sinha. In 2006, he made prateeksha.
It starred dia mirza, jimmy shergill, anupam kher, govind namdeo, prithvi zutshi and zarina wahab. In 2007 he made kuch khatta kuch meetha, starring aditi sharma, sarvar ahuja, satish kaushik, anupam kher and archana puran singh.
In 2001, Basu Chatterjee directed chup chupi, starring firduos ahmed,priyanka trivedi and soumitro Chatterjee. In 2002, he directed hothat brishti, again starring firduos ahmed and priyanka trivedi in the lead. Later, Basu Chatterjee directed tak jhal misti. It is a romantic comedy starring firduos ahmed and priyanka trivedi in the lead.
In 2008, Chatterjee directed hochheta ki, starring paran Chatterjee, ramaprasad banik, presenjit Chatterjee, paoli dam and rajatabha dutta. It is a story of a medical representative who starts an affair with another woman four years into his marriage. Basu Chatterjee tried to make this film in david dhawan style.
Basu Chatterjee has directed six shows on television. In 1985 he directed two tv serials rajani and darpan. He also directed bhim bhawani,in 1986, a comedy detective serial starring ashok kumar and anoop kumar. In 1988, he directed kakaji kahan.
Both rajani and kakaji kahan starred akhil mishra. In 1993, he directed byomkesh bakshi, starring rajit kapoor, k.k. Raina and sukanya kulkarni. Basu Chatterjee was the also the producer for four of his directorial ventures. These films included baton baton mein (1979), pasand apni apni (1983), lakhon ki baat (1984) and ek ruka hua faisla (1986).
Basu Chatterjee has written the screenplay of his films sara akash (1969), rajnigandha (1974), khatta meetha (1977), dillagi (1978), hamari bahu alka (1982) and lakhon ki baat (1984). Basu Chatterjee has written the dialogues of his films piya ka ghar (1972), rajnigandha (1974), khatta meetha (1977), dillagi (1978), hamari bahu alka (1982) and lakhon ki baat (1984).
In 2007, Basu Chatterjee was given the lifetime achievement award at the iifa (international indian film academy award).
