Prabhat Mukherjee | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1917 (1917) |
| Died | 1997 (aged 79–80) |
| Other names | P Mukherjee |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, actor |
| Spouse | |
Prabhat Mukherjee (1917-1997)[1] was an Indian film director, actor and writer.[2] He is known for his work inBengali,Assamese,Odia andHindi-language films.[3]
Mukherjee's career began withAll India Radio. He started acting inBengali films in 1950. The first film directed by him wasMaa (1956), in Bengali language. In 1959 he worked with the actorUttam Kumar in a film calledBicharak, which won theNational Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali. Mukherjee directed three more films by 1960.The Assamese filmPuberun,[4] directed by Mukerjee was released in 1959.[5] The film was screened at the1960 Berlin Film Festival. He also wrote the script for the film. From 1972 to 1984, Mukherjee made at least fiveOdia films. One of these isRatnakar (1982), which was the first film of Odia actor and directorPrashant Nanda. His otherOdia films includeNuabou(1962),Jeevan Sathi(1963)[6] -a film with Geeta Rao,Minati Mishra,Sarat Pujari[7] andManimala Devi[8]-, andSadhana(1964). In 1972 Mukherjee directed his firstHindi-language filmShayar-e-Kashmir Mahjoor, which was a biopic on Ghulam Ahmad (1885-1952), the famous national poet of Kashmir and produced byGovernment of Jammu and Kashmir.Balraj Sahni played the title role. After that Mukherjee directed two more Hindi films before coming back to Bengali films.[1] He introduced Mallika Sarabhai into films.
Mukherjee married toArundhati Devi (Guha Thakurta), who was an actress in Bengali film. She acted in Mukherjee’s directorial debutMaa.[citation needed] Mukherjee had also co-starred with Arundhati in Bengali filmShorashi (1954) directed by Pashupati Chetrjee. However his married life did not last.[citation needed] Arundhati met directorTapan Sinha at the Berlin Film Film Festival in 1957 and later Arundhati Devi and Sinha got married.[citation needed]
Mukherjee divorced twice.[citation needed] Later, he visited Dwarka Mai and the home ofShirdi Sai Baba’s tomb.[citation needed] He spent the remainder of his life studying the teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba, the Indian saint.[9]