Padma Bhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke awardee and a noted Bengali filmmaker, Mrinal Sen passed away on Sunday at the age of 95, at his home in Bhawanipore, Kolkata. He was one of the greatest ambassadors of the Bengali parallel cinema.
He was contemporary to filmmakers Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak, and although sharing a healthy rivalry all of them were huge admirers of each other’s work. Sen’s work was noted for the artistic depiction of social reality.
Mrinal made his directorial debut with ‘Raat Bhore’ in 1955 starring famous Uttam Kumar. It film turned out to be a disappointment. He earned local recognition with his second film Neel Akasher Neechey (Under the Blue Sky) in 1959. But his third film ‘Baishey Shravan’ changed the course of his life and gave him international exposure.
His film ‘Bhuvan Shome’ was made on a very small budget provided by the government of India. It was a huge success and introduced Mrinal Sen as a major filmmaker both nationally and internationally.
Sen was known as featuring Kolkata in his film as a character and as an inspiration. He won several international awards for his work.
His cinema showed the development of ideas but mostly he did not give them a happy ending like Satyajit Ray.
The Internet is streaming with heartfelt messages since the news of his demise came out.
#mrinalsen you will always be remembered. Rest in Peace pic.twitter.com/sha01vxmdK
— Mohanlal (@Mohanlal) December 30, 2018
Saddened by the demise of veteran filmmaker #MrinalSen.
From Bhuvan Shome to Mrigayaa, his films were beautiful depictions of social realities on the silver screen.
His passing away is the end of an era, and an irreparable loss for the Indian film industry.
— RajyavardhanRathore (@Ra_THORe) December 30, 2018
Mrinal Sen’s passing away is a big loss not only to Cinema but to the world of Culture & India's civilisational values. Mrinal da radicalised Cinematography by his people-centric humanistic narrative. Deepest condolences. https://t.co/SXkwr5NQKf
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) December 30, 2018
Dada Saheb Phalke and Padma bhushan awardee,The pioneer of parallel cinema in India Mrinal Sen dies at https://t.co/NZF5rLHeKk was his iconoclastic approach to showcase the poverty struck India which makes him a class apart. RIP!#MrinalSen pic.twitter.com/nwHyQTWd9u
— Geetika Swami (@SwamiGeetika) December 30, 2018
Sen was a member of the jury in 1982 at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival, in 1983 at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival and in 1997 at the 20th Moscow International Film Festival.
His film earned awards at almost all major film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Moscow, Karlovy Vary, Montreal, Chicago, and Cairo. For his lifetime contribution to the cinema world, he received the Taj Enlighten Tareef Award in 2008.