Indian Film Director
Harisadhan Dasgupta | |
|---|---|
| Born | ()14 April Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Died | 19 August () (aged&#;72) Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Alma&#;mater | University of Southern California |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, Director, Writer |
| Notable work | Konarak: The Sun Temple, A Perfect Day, Panchthupi: A Village in West Bengal, Tata: The Story of Steel |
| Spouse | Sonali Senroy Dasupta |
Harisadhan Dasgupta (–) was an Indian film director from Calcutta who was most prolific in the s and s. Dasgupta specialized in surveying subjects of fascination to the Bengali public.[1]
Dasgupta attended the University of Southern California and later the University of California, Los Angeles to study film-making.[2] He studied for a time under Hollywood producer Irving Pichel.[3] Upon completing an apprenticeship, he returned to Calcutta to produce documentaries.
Over a lengthy career, Dasgupta produced many documentaries, long and short.[4] He was best known for his English language documentaries on the Bengali people's situation, including such works as Panchthupi: A Village in West Bengal (), Panorama of West Bengal (), Glimpses of India (), and The Automobile Industry in India ().[5][6] He became most well known for his classic documentary commissioned by Tata Steel, India's largest private corporation, titled Tata: The Story of Steel.[7] As with several of his films, this documentary was scripted by Satyajit Ray. Throughout his career, Dasgupta also worked with several other leading lights involved in Calcutta's film-making renaissance, including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Claude Renoir, Jean Renoir, Ravi Shankar, Chidananda Dasgupta, and Asit Sen.[2] In , Dasgupta co-founded the Calcutta Film Society along with Satyajit Ray, Chidananda Dasgupta, Sunil Janah, RP Gupta, Bansi Chandragupta and others.[8]
Dasgupta was involved in a highly publicized incident when his wife Sonali left their marriage and their six-year-old son for Italian film director Roberto Rossellini.[9][10][11] Their son Raja later expressed relief when she passed due to their estrangement.[12]
His Panchthupi: A Village in West Bengal was awarded the Best Film of the IDPA Film Festival, Bombay/Delhi, [1]Hattogol Vijay, a film made through HS Dasgupta Productions for India Tube Company, was awarded the Prime Minister's Gold Medal[1] as Best Children's Film for