Kamaleswar Mukherjee is an Indian film director, actor, and physician known for his work in Bengali film industry. He has directed multiple highest grossing Bengali films including Chander Pahar (2013), Amazon Obhijaan (2017) and Cockpit (2017).
Kamaleswar Mukherjee is a physician by training. He attended St. Lawrence High School, Kolkata and is an alumnus of the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata. He transitioned from the medical profession first to Group Theatre, then to the advertising world, and then to filmmaking. After working as an advertisement filmmaker, Mukherjee wrote dialogues, screenplays, and songs for the film Natobor Not Out (2010).
His directorial debut, the well acclaimed film Uro Chithi was released in 2011. The film interwove 12 text messages with 12 different characters, combining shades of life spanning across 12 months. His next venture was Meghe Dhaka Tara, inspired by the life and works of Bengali filmmaker, Ritwik Ghatak. The film portrayed the period of Ghatak's life when he was admitted into a mental asylum for treatment. Meghe Dhaka Tara was critically acclaimed and it won the International Film Festival of India Centenary Award.
His next film was Chander Pahar (2013), based on an eponymous novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. Chander Pahar is the second costliest film made in Indian Bengali film industry and is one of the highest grossing Indian Bengali films of all time. The film received huge critical acclaim. Then he made the film Khawto, that deals with the love story of an eminent urban author in self imposed asylum near the sea. In 2017, Mukherjee wrote and directed Amazon Obhijaan, the sequel to Chander Pahar. It is most expensive Indian Bengali film ever made. The film grossed around and emerged as the highest grossing Bengali film of all time. Further, he has directed multiple films including Cockpit - dealing with the life and journey of a pilot, Good Night City based on the conflict between a psychiatrist and a schizophrenic man, Mukhomukhi - a surreal representation of modern-day urban angst and living and Password - a story relating to cybercrime.
As an actor he has performed in a lot of films. Mukherjee is also a playwright, director and the founder member of KolkataâÂÂbased theatre group "Shailushik". He is also trained in photography and computer graphics.