Tarun Majumdar (or Mazumdar; 8 January 1931 â 4 July 2022) was an Indian film director, documentary filmmaker, author, illustrator, and screenwriter known for his work in Bengali cinema. He received five National Film Awards, seven BFJA Awards, five Filmfare Awards, and one Anandalok Award. In 1990, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award in the country. The National Film Archive of India has restored and digitized several of his works, including Nimantran (1971). His filmography includes Palatak (1963), Nimantran (1971), and Ganadevata (1978), which received various National and Filmfare awards. He made his directorial debut, alongside Sachin Mukherji and Dilip Mukherji, under the screen name Yatrik, with the 1959 Bengali film Chaowa Pawa, starring Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar in the lead roles.
He received his first National Award for the 1962 Bengali film Kancher Swarga. He received recognition for his directorial ventures such as Palatak (1963), Nimantran (1971), Sansar Simante (1975), and Ganadevata (1978). He received a National Award, a BFJA Award and a Filmfare Award for Nimantran (1971). Ganadevata (1978) earned him a National Award and a Filmfare Award.
His commercially successful films include Balika Badhu (1967), Kuheli (1971), Shriman Prithviraj (1973), Fuleswari (1974), Dadar Kirti (1980), Bhalobasa Bhalobasa (1985), and Apan Amar Apan (1990).
His former wife, Sandhya Roy, starred in twenty of his films, and Tapas Paul appeared in eight. Moushumi Chatterjee, Mahua Roychoudhury, Ayan Banerjee, Tapas Paul, Abhishek Chatterjee, and Nayna Bandyopadhyay made their film debuts under his direction. He also collaborated with Rajkumar Barjatya, father of director and writer Sooraj Barjatya, on the script of Maine Pyar Kiya.
Majumdar was born on 8 January 1931 in Bogra, which was then part of the Bengal Presidency of British India. His father Birendranath Majumdar was a freedom fighter from Munsirhat. He studied intermediate from St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College and had his graduation at Scottish Church College, both affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Majumdar was married to actress Sandhya Roy. While the couple later lived separately, they remained legally married until his death.
Majumdar started his career as a poster illustrator and film technician. His early films were credited to Yatrik (phonetically Jatrik in Bengali). Yatrik was the screen name of the trio of directors Tarun Majumdar, Sachin Mukherji, and Dilip Mukherji until 1963, after which each began to be credited separately. As Yatrik, their first venture was Chaowa Paowa (1959) starring Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. Yatrik made Kancher Swarga (1962) featuring Dilip Mukherjee as the lead.
In 1965, Majumdar made two films â Ektuku Basa with Soumitra Chatterjee and Alor Pipasa with Basanta Choudhury. Both films featured Sandhya Roy as the female protagonist. In 1967, he directed Balika Badhu, an adaptation of a Bengali story written by Bimal Kar, in which a teenage Moushumi Chatterjee made her debut. Majumdar later remade the film Hindi in 1976. He also directed Shriman Prithviraj.
In 1974, Majumdar directed Fuleswari, starring Sandhya Roy as the titular character. Prominent Bengali artists like Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukherjee, Aarti Mukherjee and Anup Ghoshal provided vocals for the film's songs. Years later, Majumdar acknowledged Fuleswari as his favorite film. In 1975, he directed Sansar Simante, based on a screenplay by Rajen Tarafdar, which was itself adapted from a short story by Premendra Mitra. In 1979, Majumdar's film Ganadevata became the first Bengali film to win the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The film was based on the novel of the same name, written by Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay.
Mahua Roychoudhury was cast as the female lead in Dadar Kirti (1980), a film based on a short story by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The film marked the debut of Tapas Paul who starred as the protagonist Kedar who falls in love with Saraswati portrayed by Mahua Roychoudhury. The film became Paul featured as the lead which marked his debut. The film won Roychoudhury Filmfare Awards East in 1981.
Majumdar went on to cast Sandhya Roy in four consecutive films â Shahar Theke Dure (1981), Meghmukti (1982), Khelar Putul (1982) and Amar Geeti (1984). These two films had lower box office returns compared to his previous works, leading to contemporary media discussion regarding Roy's commercial impact at the time. He roped Tapas Paul and Debashree Roy in the romantic drama Bhalobasa Bhalobasa. The film gained box office success. Majumdar cast Paul in another three films, Agaman (1988),Parashmoni (1988) and Apan Amar Apan (1990) alongside Prosenjit Chatterjee and Satabdi Roy. The film was a box office success.
In 2003, he returned to directing with Alo, a film based on a story written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. Rituparna Sengupta played the titular role. Consistent with Majumdar's established style, the soundtrack incorporated Rabindra Sangeet.
In 2006, he directed Bhalobasar Onek Naam, casting Uttam Kumar's grandson Gourab Chatterjee and Hemanta Mukherjee's granddaughter, and Moushumi Chatterjee's daughter Megha as lead actors.
In 2007, he made another feature film, Chander Bari. Rituparna Sengupta again was the main lead. Playback singer Babul Supriyo made his debut in this film opposite Rituparna. The songs featured were again composed by Rabindranath Tagore.
His last full-length feature film, Bhalobashar Bari released in 2018. Rituparna Sengupta again played the protagonist in the film.
Majumdar's films frequently adapted classical literature and followed a narrative-driven structure, a style that differed from the experimental approaches of some of his contemporaries. He stated in interviews that a film's commercial performance served as an indicator of its quality.
On 4 July 2022, at the age of 91, Majumdar died from a heart attack at a hospital in Kolkata. He suffered from chest infection, kidney and heart ailments prior to his death. Tarun Majumder donated his body for promotion of medical education to the Anatomy Department of IPGMER and SSKM Hospital in Kolkata.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed grief over the death of Tarun Majumdar. Nimantran was restored and digitized by the National Film Archive of India. Tarun Majumdar was the recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1990. He won the Lifetime Achievement honor at the West Bengal Film Journalist Association Awards in 2017.