Radhu Karmakar (1919 - 5 October 1993) was an Indiancinematographer and director inHindi cinema from the 1940s to 1990s. He worked extensively with director-actorRaj Kapoor on his films and for hisR. K. Studio. Starting withAwaara (1951), he shot all of Kapoor's subsequent films for four decades, till his last,Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985).[1]
He even directed a film,Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960), which was produced by Raj Kapoor, and with Kapoor himself andPadmini as leads. The film wonFilmfare Award for Best Film while Karmakar won a nomination for Best Director Award at the9th Filmfare Awards. At the8th National Film Awards the film also won Certificate of Merit in theBest Feature Film in Hindi category.[2]
At the18th National Film Awards, he won the award forNational Film Award for Best Cinematography forMera Naam Joker.[3][4] He won theFilmfare Award for Best Cinematographer four times:Shree 420 (1957),Mera Naam Joker (1972),Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1979), andHenna (1992).
Karmakar start his film career inCalcutta withKismat ki Dhani (1945) followed byMilan (1946) directed byNitin Bose forBombay Talkies. Though the film didn't perform well at box office, his night sequence photography and high contrast lighting got him acclaim.[1] Soon he was chosen to shoot Raj Kapoor'sAwaara (1951). This started a career long association lasting four decades, working on films, such asShree 420 (1955),Sangam (1964),Mera Naam Joker (1970),Bobby (1973),Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978),Prem Rog (1982), andRam Teri Ganga Maili (1985). After Raj Kapoor's death in 1988, he continued working with R. K. Studio and shotHenna (1991), a project he started shooting and which was later completed by his sonRandhir Kapoor.[5][6]
Born in Bikrampur, now inMunshiganj District, near present-dayDhaka,Bangladesh in aBengali Karmakar family ofgoldsmiths, the profession which did not interest him much apart from hisphotography. Karmakar married Baani Rai, the daughter of businessman Brojendrolal Rai, and moved to Calcutta. Baani Karmakar was the youngest among her seven siblings. Radhu Karmakar and his family resided in Calcutta until 1951 when he started working withRaj Kapoor in his filmAwaara (1951). He worked initially on directorNitin Bose'sMilan (1946) soon afterKismat ki Dhani (1945).[7]Raj Kapoor found Karmakar's work commendable when he saw his night sequence photography and high contrast lighting inMilan (1946). Karmakar's family soon moved toBombay.[citation needed]
Wife - Late Mrs Baani KarmakarSons - Krishna Gopal Karmakar and Brojo Gopal KarmakarDaughters - Sudevi Karmakar, Radha Banerjee, Meera ChoudhuriGrandchildren - Shomita Pandey, Rinky Karmakar, Siddharth Karmakar, Shubhankar Banerjee, Gaurang Karmakar, Anuradha Karmakar, Priyanka Choudhuri, Keshub Karmakar, Rudraraj Karmakar. Great grand daughter- Dr.Tushita Pandey
Karmakar died in a car accident on the Bombay Pune Road while driving back toBombay. He died on 5 October 1993. At the42nd National Film Awards of 1995, he was posthumously given aSpecial Jury Award forParam Vir Chakra and "In appreciation of a lifetime achievement in creating some of the most memorable moments in Indian film history."[8]
His autobiography,Radhu Karmakar: The Painter of Lights, was published posthumously in 2005.[1]
