Ajoy Kar

Ajoy Kar Biography

Ajoy Kar was a national award winning cinematographer and film director of the classic era of Bengali movies. He worked in the industry from early 1950s till 1980s. He passed away in 25 January 1985, aged 70 and till then he was fully active with his camerawork. He was the film director of acclaimed Bengali films - Saat Pake Bandha (1963), Saptapadi (1961), Harano Sur (1957) and Malyadan (1971), which won honours at National film awards in the respectively years. Malyadan won best feature film award, Harano Sur received a Certificate of Merit for 3rd best film in Bengali, and Saat Pake Bandha and Saptapadi received Certificate of Merit for 2nd best film in Bengali in different years. His film Saptapadi was screened at 3rd Moscow International Film Festival.

Ajoy Kar was born in Kolkata in 27 March 1914. After his college studies in 1931 to pursue a career in films, he turned a professional photographer. After a few years he became a cinematographer of Bengali film industry. Initially he worked as an assistant to Jatin Das. Later he worked as a cinematographer for Indrapuri Studios in 1938 in Kolkata. Since then he has made around 80 films including feature films and documentaries. He spent four decades in the film industry.

Ananya (1949) was his first film as a director. As a full-fledged independent director Bamuner Meye (1949) was his first film. In the 1950s and early 1960s, he turned a key figure in the development of mainstream Bengali cinema, and many of his works were nationally and internationally appreciated. He directed 26 feature films in total. His movie, Saat Pake Bandha was remade to Hindi as Kora Kaagaz in the 1970s.

Published: February 18, 2019

Updated: February 18, 2019