Basu Chatterjee (1930-2020) *90

was an Indian film director and screenwriter.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema, with filmmakers such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, whom he assisted on Teesri Kasam (1966). Like their films, his films also dealt with light-hearted stories of middle-class families often in urban settings, focusing on marital and love relationships, with exceptions such as Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (1986) and Kamla Ki Maut (1989), which delved into social and moral issues. He is best known for his films Us Paar, Chhoti Si Baat (1975), Chitchor (1976), Rajnigandha (1974), Piya Ka Ghar (1972), Khatta Meetha , Swami (1977 film), Baton Baton Mein (1979), Priyatama (1977), Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Shaukeen (1982), and Chameli Ki Shaadi (1986), which was his last commercially successful movie. Chatterjee directed the Bengali film, Hothath Brishti (1998), which was a joint production of Bangladesh and India. The film featured Ferdous Ahmed from Bangladesh and Priyanka Trivedi and Sreelekha Mitra from West Bengal. It was widely appreciated by the audience.Later, he had worked with Ferdous in Indian-Bengali films like Chupi Chupi (2001), Tok Jhal Mishti (2002) and Hotath Shedin (2012), another joint production of Bangladesh and India. He wrote the script for the Bangladeshi film Ek Cup Cha, directed by Noyeem Imtiaz Neamul.