subject: Bollywood Director, Producer, J.p.dutta [print this page] Filmmaker JFilmmaker J. P. Dutta has been lighting the lamp of nationalism in Indian hearts by using cinema as an effective culture medium. J. P. Dutta's film making style differs from that of the other film makers in his generations in various aspects. Where other directors have been making single starrer flicks, Dutta made several multi-starrer films. His choice of subjects has also been different, mostly based on patriotic theme. Dutta's films always had a fare share of action, too.
Name: Jyoti Prakash Dutta
Born: 3rd October, 1949
Occupation: Director, Producer
Years Active: 1973- Present
Spouse: Bindiya Goswami
Early Life
Dutta was born on 3rd October 1949 to Bollywood director-writer O. P. Dutta and his wife in Mumbai. Being a son of director, Dutta had a big influence of Bollywood in his life, which later helped him to emerge as a successful director himself.
Career
1973-1980
Dutta started his career as an assistant director. He worked as an assistant director for JWAR BHATA (1973) under Arundhati Subba Rao and DHARAM KARAM (1975) under Randhir Kapoor.
1981-1990
Dutta's directorial debut GHULAMI (1985) was based on oppression of lower cast farmers by landlords in India. The film starred Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Reena Roy, Smita Patil and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
After almost three years gap, Dutta came up with his next movie, YATEEM (1988). The movie was an action film starring Sunny Deol, Farha Naaz, Amrish Puri, Sujata Mehta and Danny Denzongpa.
HATHYAR (1989) starred Bollywood's big guns like Dharmendra, Rishi Kapoor, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Asha Parekh, Sangeeta Bijlani and Sanjay Dutt. The film was a story of a young man, who due to his situation, gets dragged in the slime of underworld. The film was a through and through action flick, and garnered a lot of attention from the audience.
In the same year, another of Dutta's films, BATWARA (1989) was released. The film starred Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Poonam Dhillon, Amrita Singh, Shammi Kapoor and Amrish Puri. BATWARA (1989) was a family drama in a princely family, at the time of British rule. The movie unfolds the struggles within Singh family at various levels and between different relations.
1991-2000
Dutta's next film, KSHATRIYA (1993), told a story of conflict of pride between the two royal families of Mirtagarh and Surjangarh. The movie starred Vinod Khanna, Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt, Rakhee Gulzar , Meenakshi Sheshadri, Raveena Tandon and Divya Bharti.
BORDER (1997) was Dutta's award winning saga based on the battle of Longewala in Rajasthan during 1971 Indo-Pak war. The story follows the struggles of a group of 120 soldiers from Punjab regiment of the Indian army, while defending their post for a night against a whole tank regiment of the Pakistani Army. The film starred a bunch of actors including Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rakhee Gulzar, Pooja Bhatt, Tabbu. BORDER (1997) was critical and commercial hit in India. It won many awards including Filmfare award for best director (J. P. Dutta) and best newcomer (Akshaye Khanna). Dutta also won National Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration from President of India. The soundtrack of BORDER (1997) was also loved by the audience, and no celebration in Indian Army is complete, without playing the song Sandese Aate Hain from the film. Apparently, the Indian Army officials were so moved by Dutta's efforts that they allowed him to use the actual equipments, ammunition and other things used by Indian Army.
After three years, when the magic of his previous film BORDER (1997) was still around, Dutta directed the film REFUGEE (2000). He launched Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor through REFUGEE (2000). The movie tells the story of a man simply known as 'Refugee', who helps Muslim refugee's cross the border illegally. The movie starred Sunil Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Puneet Issar besides Abhishek and Kareena. Tough the film did moderate business at Box Office, it was applauded by critics. Debutants Abhihek and Kareena scored Filmfare Best Debut Award. The soundtrack of the film was also very melodious, and Anu Malik won a National Award for Best Music Direction.
2001-present
LOC KARGIL (2003) was Dutta's second war film starring a large number of Bollywood's big guns. The film was an attempt to materialize the 1999 Kargil conflict (Operation Vijay). The movie was the one of the longest movies in Indian cinema (4 hours) and was shot at the actual location of the army operation, 14,000 feet above the sea level with just 60% oxygen available. LOC KARGIL starred a horde of Indian actors including Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Suneil Shetty, Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Akshaye Khanna, Manoj Bajpai, Nagarjuna, Ashutosh Rana, Raj Babbar, Milind Gunaji and many more. Actress who appeared in the film include Rani Mukherji, Raveena Tandon, Kareena Kapoor, Preeti Jhangiani, Mahima Chaudhary, Esha Deol, Eesha Koppikar, Divya Dutta, Priya Gill and Namrata Shirodkar. The topic was thoroughly researched by Dutta before starting the filming.
However, the film couldn't pull lot of masses to the movie halls, like its predecessor BORDER (1997). The credit was given to the long running time of the movie, as well as lack of story element even after being based on a real incidence. As a result, the movie was a moderate earner.
J. P. Dutta's next film was UMRAO JAAN (2006), a remake of a 1981 Hindi film by the same name. The story revolves around the famous courtesan Umrao Jaan's life. The film starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the title role besides Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Sunil Shetty, Divya Dutta, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Ayesha Jhulka. As the film was compared to the originals UMRAO JAN (1981), it received many negative reviews and performed poorly at the Box Office. However, Shabana Azmi's performance in the film was critically acclaimed.
As a Writer and Producer
J. P. Dutta is known for writing his films. He has written all of his films, except for his debut film GHULAMI (1985). He researches a lot for his films. He also has produced three of his films, BORDER (1997), REFUGEE (2000) and UMRAO JAAN (2006).
Upcoming Films
Dutta recently voiced that he would like to complete a trilogy of war films, by directing his third war film after BORDER (1997) and LOC KARGIL (2003).
Personal Life
J. P. Dutta is married to Bollywood actress Bindiya Goswami and has two daughters, Nidi and Siddh
