Subrata Sen was born on May 29, 1963 in Kolkata and is a critically acclaimed Bengali Indian film director, writer and producer.
Early Life of Subrata Sen
Subrata Sen is the product of Kolkata in who was born in the year 1963. He went to South Point High School and graduated in Physics from Presidency College, then affiliated with the University of Calcutta. After his work at a bank as an officer, he joined journalism in 1987 in Anandabazar Patrika, the largest circulated daily in India. Then he shifted from Anandabazar Patrika to The Statesman in 1992, and finally joined Banglalive dot com, an internet magazine where he remained until he made his first film Ek Je Achhe Kanya (The Girl) in 2001. His wife Parongama Sen is a Physicist of international repute.
After a brief career in a bank as an officer, his interest in journalism got him associated to Anandabazar Patrika, the largest circulated daily in India in 1987. After working in ABP for a considerable time, he shifted to The Statesman in 1992, and then finally started to work with Bangla live dot com, an internet magazine. He was working with this organization, until he made his first film Ek Je Achhe Kanya (The Girl) in 2001. This movie plot is inspired from "The Crush" starring Alicia Silverstone. Ek Je Aachhe Kanya featured Konkona Sen Sharma, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Debashree Roy and Arjun Chakraborty. This movie was Konkona Sen Sharma`s (daughter of Aparna Sen) cinematic debut.
Subrata Sen never had any formal training in film-making and he describes making of Ek Je Achhe Kanya as his first training ground. However, as a child, he was closely associated with the celebrated filmmaker Satyajit Ray, while writing for Sandesh, a children`s magazine that the maestro edited. Subrata Sen honourably declares Ray`s over towering influence in his childhood, to have initiated him in to delving in filmmaking. But despite his strong association with Ray, Subrata Sen has deliberately avoided Ray`s style of filmmaking. He thought Ray to be a pillar of inspiration but always wanted to make different kind of films.
Other than Satyajit Ray, the person whose style influenced Subrata Sen the most was Jean Luc Goddard. In an interview, Subrata Sen admitted that Indian cinema has to break all forms and all moulds to make Bengali film survive and Goddard should be the ideal. Incidentally Subrata Sen`s second film, Swapner Feriwala, is a tribute to Goddard. Swapner was released in 2002 and featured Subrata Dutta, Ferdous Ahmed and Nilanjana Sharma. Nil Nirjane, another film by him was released in 2003, featuring Moonmoon Sen, Raima Sen and June Malliah. The Jadavpur University acknowledged his first film, "Ek Je Achhe Kanya" as the "First New wave Film" for the young generation in the post Satyajit Ray era. The film has been included in the University`s Film Studies course from 2002. Subrata Sen is also credited for the story, screenplay in most of his films.
Filmography of Subrata Sen
Subrata Sen often writes both story and screenplay of his films, except for "Bibar" and "Hatath Nirar Janya". "Bibar" was based on a novel written by famous Bengali writer Samaresh Bose. "Hatath Nirar Janya" was adapted from a short story written by another famous writer Sunil Gangopadhyay. He believes that cinema is a way of life but life is not only about cinema. One of his chick flicks include Koyekti Meyer Golpo; a plot revolving around contemporary cosmopolitan women and the celebration of womanhood by depicting the nuances.
Year | Film | Language |
2001 | Ek Je Achhe Kanya | Bengali |
2002 | Swapner Feriwala | Bengali |
2003 | Nil Nirjane | Bengali |
2004 | Hotath Neerar Jonnyo | Bengali |
2006 | Bibir | Bengali |
Unreleased | Nondinee | Bengali |