Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Hrishikesh Mukherjee (born September 30, 1922, Calcutta [now Kolkata], India—died August 27, 2006, Mumbai, India) was an Indian filmmaker who, in a Bollywood career that spanned more than four decades (1953–98), directed 43 Hindi-language films. He is counted among the greatest of Indian filmmakers and is regarded as a pioneer of “middle cinema,” which depicted the lives and struggles of ordinary middle-class Indians.
Early career
Mukherjee began his career as a film editor in the Bengali-language film industry in the 1940s in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1951 to work as an assistant director to renowned filmmaker Bimal Roy. He worked in various capacities on some of Roy’s best-regarded films: Do Bigha Zamin (1953; “Two Bighas of Land”), Parineeta (1953; “A Married Woman”), Devdas (1955), and Madhumati (1958). An avid student of the craft of filmmaking, Mukherjee explored several innovative narrative techniques.
His directorial debut, Musafir (1957; “Traveller”), was an ambitious, if unsuccessful, experiment in episodic structuring and starred Dilip Kumar, one of the era’s leading actors. The effort attracted the attention of actor-director Raj Kapoor, who was impressed by the film’s content and technique, which were far ahead of their time. Kapoor recommended Mukherjee as the director for Anari (1959; “Naive”), starring himself and Nutan. Commercially successful and critically acclaimed, Anari brought well-deserved recognition for Mukherjee.
Middle cinema and career peak
Through the 1960s Mukherjee made sensitive social dramas, such as Anuradha (1961), dealing with the alienation of an idealistic husband and his ambitious wife, and Anupama (1966), about a daughter forsaken by her hostile father. It was in the 1970s, however, that Mukherjee’s oeuvre hit its peak. At the start of that decade, he made what most consider to be his masterpiece, the emotionally engrossing Anand (1971), featuring gripping performances by Bollywood heartthrob Rajesh Khanna and emerging star Amitabh Bachchan. Anand represents the epitome of Mukherjee’s mature style; technical flourishes and camera tricks are absent, and his direction emphasizes pure narrative.
Mukherjee’s later films include the comedies Guddi (1971), Bawarchi (1972; “Chef”), Chupke Chupke (1975; “Quietly”), Gol Maal (1979; “Topsy-Turvy”), and Khubsoorat (1980; “Beautiful”). Abhimaan (1973; “Pride”) tells the story of a married couple who are professional singers and whose marriage becomes strained when the wife’s career outshines that of the husband. Mukherjee’s films are noted for the grace and humor with which he told stories of the Indian middle-class and their values. He is also noted for being associated with some of Bollywood’s biggest talents in their early working years—Dharmendra (Anupama and Chupke Chupke), Jaya Bhaduri (Guddi and Abhimaan), and Bachchan (Anand, Chupke Chupke, and Abhimaan).
Later works and legacy
As action- and angst-filled cinema came to dominate in the 1980s, Mukherjee’s gentle, restrained style became obsolete. He turned to television briefly, directing serials such as Talaash (1992; “Search”). In 1998 he attempted a directorial comeback with Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate (“A Crow Will Bite If You Lie”), but the film was panned by critics and failed commercially.
For his contributions to Indian cinema, Mukherjee was honored with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1999) for lifetime achievement in filmmaking and the Padma Vibhushan (2001), India’s second highest civilian award.
