Filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, best known for films like Chhoti Si Baat, Rajnigandha, Baaton Baaton Mein, Swami, Ek Ruka Hua Faisla and Chameli Ki Shaadi passed away on June 4, 2020 in Mumbai, following age-related ailments. He was 90 years old.
Basuda was born on January 10, 1930, in Ajmer. He started his career as an illustrator in a reputed newspaper before turning to films. He assisted his namesake Basu Bhattacharya in Teesri Kasam (1966), starring Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman. His first film as director was Sara Akash (1969), based on the eponymous novel Sara Akash by Rajendra Yadav. The film, starring Rakesh Pandey, Madhu Chakravarty and Jalal Agha was about the incompatibility between a married couple. Apparently, it was shot at Rajendra Yadav’s own house in Agra. Cinematographer K K Mahajan won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his black-and-white camera work in the film. The film set the tone for Basuda’s future films, as most of his offerings revolved around the lives of common people and their problems.
In fact, most of his films revolved around marriage. Piya Ka Ghar (1972), starring Jaya Bhaduri and Anil Dhawan, was based on Raja Thakur’s Marathi film Mumbaicha Jawai. It talked about space crunch and the lack of privacy in Mumbai experienced through the eyes of a young couple. Swami (1977), starring Shabana Azmi, Girish Karnad and Vikram, was a more serious film revolving around a woman, who pines for her lover even as she’s married off to someone else. Priyatama (1977), starring Jeetendra, Neetu Singh, Rakesh Roshan and Utpal Dutt was about how reality kills romance in a marriage. Khatta Meeta (1978) was about a middle-aged widower (Ashok Kumar) marrying another middle-aged widow (Pearl Padamsee). Both have children from their former marriages and the youngsters find it hard to adjust to each other.
He made pure rom-coms as well but here too his milieu was middle-class. Rajnigandha (1974), based on a short story by Mannu Bhandari, starring Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha and Dinesh Thakur, was about a woman’s dilemma in picking a life partner. Chitchor (1976), starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Vijayendra Ghatge, was a romantic comedy involving mistaken identities. Chhoti Si Baat (1976), starring Amol Palekar, Asrani, Ashok Kumar and Vidya Sinha, had Palekar playing a man with low self-confidence. He then hires a life coach to teach him how to propose to a girl. Baton Baton Mein (1979) had a Christian setting and was all about the courtship between Amol Palekar and Tina Munim, assisted by her uncle, played by David. Man Pasand (1980), starring Dev Anand, Tina Munim, Girish Karnad and Mehmood, was based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Shaukeen (1982) was perhaps his boldest comedy. Starring Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt, A.K. Hangal, Rati Agnihotri and Mithun Chakraborty, it was about the misadventures of three old men, who want to have a good time in Goa. Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986), starring Anil Kapoor and Amrita Singh, was about an ex-wrestler trying to marry a rather feisty girl. Caste politics played the villain of the piece.
Basuda touched upon thrillers as well. Tumhare Liye (1978), starring Sanjeev Kumar, Vidya Sinha and Neelam Mehra, was about reincarnation. Ratandeep (1979), starring Girish Karnad and Hema Malini, had Karnad masquerading as the dead husband of Malini in a bid to loot her riches. Chakravyuha (1978), starring Rajesh Khanna, Vinod Mehra, and Neetu Singh, was a James Bond kind of an espionage whodunnit. Sheesha (1986) was a thriller around rape starring Mithun Chakraborty, Moon Moon Sen and Mallika Sarabhai.
There was a serious streak to his filmmaking as well. Manzil (1979), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Moushumi Chatterjee, was based on the hit Bengali film Akash Kusum (1965). It had Amitabh pretending to be a rich man in order to impress Moushumi. Jeena Yahan (1979), starring Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab, was a film about women empowerment. Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986) was a gritty courtroom drama based on the American hit 12 Angry Men (1957). Kamla Ki Maut (1989), starring Pankaj Kapur, Supriya Pathak and Roopa Ganguly, was a hard-hitting drama about the suicide of an unmarried pregnant girl. It forces her neighbours to re-examine their own lives.
Basuda had the knack of casting big stars in small-budget films. He worked with Mithun Chakraborty in Shaukeen, with Vinod Mehra in Us Paar, Jeetendra and Neetu Singh in Priyatama, Dev Anand and Tina Munim in Man Pasand, Rajesh Khanna and Neetu Singh in Chakravyuha and Dharmendra and Hema Malini in Dillagi and Amitabh Bachchan in Manzil. He directed the TV Series Byomkesh Bakshi and Rajani for Doordarshan, both of which were hugely successful. He’s survived by his daughter Rupali Guha, who’s also a film director.
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