Avijit Sen
Avijit Sen | |
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 Sen in 2022 | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | Birati High School |
| Alma mater | Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2006–present |
Avijit Sen (/oʊvɪjɪθj ʃɛn/) is an Indian film director, editor and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Bengali Film Industry. Known for directing family drama and social drama films which incorporate deep emotions and social message, he is one of the highest paid directors in Bengali Cinema and a recipient of the Best Director Award at Filmfare Awards Bangla, Anandalok Puraskar and others.
Sen started his career as a director and writer for popular Bengali reality shows including Didi No. 1 and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Bangla.[1] In 2021 he directed Tonic, making his debut in the Bengali film industry. It earned him critical acclaim and emerged as the highest-grossing Bengali film of 2021.[2] Then he directed Projapoti in 2022. It became his most successful film as it emerged as the highest-grossing Bengali film of 2022 and one of the highest-grossing Bengali films of all time.[3] This was followed by Pradhan in 2023, which emerged as the second highest-grossing Bengali film of 2023.[4]
Early life and education
[edit]After school, he joined a local theatre group in Birati and later also worked with another theatre group "Shudrag". He used to participate in theatrical acts and plays held across the country in cities including Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Mumbai and Allahabad. Sen graduated in film-making from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in 2004. He worked as an editor in an animation company before his admission into the SRFTI in 2001. He also served as the faculty in-charge at the Editing Department of the Film and Television Institute of India. After that he also served as a full time lecturer at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata.[5]
Career
[edit]Early career
[edit]In the initial days of his film-making career, he worked as an associate with Rajkumar Hirani. Sen met Hirani through Arghyakamal Mitra, who was then looking for an assistant director cum editor for his upcoming film. Eventually, he assisted Hirani in Lage Raho Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots, besides working as the costume designer for those films.[6]
Sen started his career as a director and writer for popular Bengali reality shows including Dadagiri Unlimited, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Bangla, Dance Bangla Dance, Didi No. 1 and Tumi Je Amar.[7] He has directed all episodes of Dadagiri Unlimited and Dance Bangla Dance from 2023, and the other three shows from their inaugural seasons.[8] Presently as of 2025, he continues directing all the above mentioned reality shows besides working as a film director.[9]
Film directorial debut and success
[edit]Sen has collaborated with RayChaudhuri as the producer for all his further films.[10] Tonic marked Avijit Sen's directorial debut in films. The film was widely applauded and appreciated for its light comedy, simple storyline, vibrant locales and chemistry between Dev and Paran Bandyopadhyay.[11] It emerged as the highest-grossing Bengali film of 2021 and garnered him critical acclaim.[2] At the 5th Filmfare Awards Bangla, the film won the Best Film and Best Actor (Paran Bandyopadhyay) Awards and also earned him the Best Debut Director Award.[12]
His next directorial was Projapoti in 2022. He got the idea about the core concept of the film, after he read an article in a newspaper about a retired teacher who married at an old age, just to have a companion by his side, in old age.[13] The film was applauded as an emotional family entertainer that highlights the social issues, although the ending melodrama was bemoaned.[14] It became his most successful film and emerged as the highest-grossing Bengali film of 2022 as well as one of the highest grossing Bengali films of all time.[3] It won the "Most Popular Film" and "Most Popular Actor" (Mithun Chakraborty) Award at the 6th WBFJA Awards.[15]
In 2023, he directed Pradhan, which emerged as the second highest-grossing Bengali film of 2023.[4] A social drama, the film was praised for its commercial approach while keeping close to the Bengali culture instead of displaying over the top scenes like most commercial potboilers.[16] It won the "Most Popular Film" and "Most Popular Actor" (Dev) Award at the 7th WBFJA Award.[17] His next directorial Projapoti 2, which is a sequel to his 2022 film Projapoti, was announced on 1 January 2025.[18] It is scheduled to release in the theatres in December 2025.[19]
Filmography
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Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Director | Writer | Language | Notes | Ref. |
| 2021 | Tonic | Yes | Yes | Bengali | Marked his debut as a director in Bengali films | [20][21] |
| 2022 | Projapoti | Yes | Yes | [22][23] | ||
| 2023 | Pradhan | Yes | Yes | [24][25] | ||
| 2025 | Projapoti 2 † | Yes | Yes | [26][27] |
Filmmaking style
[edit]In the initial days of his film-making career, he worked as an associate with Rajkumar Hirani. He assisted him in Lage Raho Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots, besides working in a few commercial shoots. He attributes his style of film-making as one which is inspired from Rajkumar Hirani. He mentioned in an interview that he got his knack of telling relatable human stories from Hirani, who told him that well scripted life stories always appeal to human emotions.[28]
His films are centered around the issues persistent in our everyday life and the sufferings faced by a common man in the society owing to those issues. All of his stories display deep emotional attachment and detachments among the various relations in a family. His films are usually not centered around a lead "hero and heroine" but focus on the cavernous bonding between the lead hero and one to two senior parallel lead characters. Vivid backgrounds and vibrant cinematographic shots, coupled with closeup shots and monologues with specific focus on the emotions displayed by the characters are a signature style of his movies. The story also includes several other actors, who play pivotal roles of close relatives or acquaintance of the leads. Actors like Biswajit Sen and Kharaj Mukherjee are present in all of his films to add to the humour quotient of the films.[29][30]
Recurring collaborations
[edit]Sen has collaborated with Dev as the lead actor in all of his films. Ambarish Bhattacharya, Biswanath Basu, Koneenica Banerjee and Kharaj Mukherjee have played supporting roles in all the films while Sujay Datta Ray has been the editor. Only people with two or more collaborations are listed.
| Films | Dev | Ambarish Bhattacharya | Biswanath Basu | Koneenica Banerjee | Mamata Shankar | Kharaj Mukherjee | Kanchan Mullick | Paran Bandopadhyay | Anupam Roy | Rathijit Bhattacharjee | Sujay Datta Ray | Gopi Bhagat |
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| 'Tonic' (2021) | 
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| 'Projapoti' (2022) |
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| 'Pradhan' (2023) |
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Accolades
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result | Ref. |
| 2022 | 5th Filmfare Awards Bangla | Filmfare Award Bangla for Best Director | Tonic | Nominated | [31] |
| Filmfare Award Bangla for Best Debut Director | Won | ||||
| Anandalok Puraskar | Anandalok Puraskar for Best Director | Nominated | [32] | ||
| Anandalok Puraskar for Most Promising Director | Won | ||||
| 2023 | 6th Filmfare Awards Bangla | Filmfare Award Bangla for Best Director | Projapoti | Nominated | [33] |
| Filmfare Award Bangla for Best Story | Nominated | ||||
| 6th WBFJA Awards | West Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for Most Promising Director | Nominated | [34] | ||
| 2024 | 7th Filmfare Awards Bangla | Filmfare Award Bangla for Best Director | Pradhan | Nominated | [35] |
References
[edit]- ^ "অডিশন শুরু, মার্চে 'ডান্স বাংলা ডান্স', মিঠুন না দেব, কে মহা বিচারক? জানালেন অভিজিৎ". Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). 5 October 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Bengali film 'Tonic' to stream on Zee5 from February 18". WION. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
Tonic is the highest grossing Bangla film of 2021
- ^ a b "Dev and Mithun Chakraborty's 2022 blockbuster Projapati to get a sequel". The Telegraph. 2 January 2025. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
Projapati earned over Rs 13 crore, thereby emerging as the highest grossing Bengali film of the year.
- ^ a b Sharma, Suksham (1 August 2024). "Pradhan OTT release date Hoichoi: When to watch Paran B's Bengali film". Indiatimes. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ Acharya, Anindita (6 December 2023). "Storytelling through cinema". Millennium Post. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ Acharya, Anindita (22 December 2023). "'Never thought my film would release alongside Rajkumar Hirani'". Millennium Post. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "A television show celebrated 1000 th episode recently". Times of India. 3 December 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ^ Sen, Avijit (8 July 2024). "অনুরাগিনী হিরের আংটি নিয়ে সেটে! লজ্জায় লাল 'দাদা', যেন 'ধরণী, দ্বিধা হও' দশা". Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). Retrieved 24 April 2025.
- ^ Chakraborty, Shamayita (5 May 2025). "Dadagiri 10: Is low TRP the reason behind the early closure of Sourav Ganguly's reality show? Director Avijit Sen clarifies". OTTplay. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ "Actor Dev, director Abhijit Sen, and producer Atanu Roy Chowdhury, known for hits like Tonic, Projapati, and Pradhan, were set to collaborate on the film Pratiksha". OTTplay. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ Irani, Shaheen (21 February 2022). "Tonic review: Dev Adhikari-Paran Bandopadhyay's film is a journey that heals the tired soul". OTTplay. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ "Winners of the Joy Filmfare Awards Bangla 2021". Filmfare. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ Chatterjee, Arindam (13 January 2023). "Film-maker Avijit Sen on the success of Projapati". t2 Online. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ Chakraborty, Shamayita (24 December 2022). "Projapati review: Mithun Chakraborty and Dev present a heartwarming entertainer and question social convention". OTTplay. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "WBFJA AWARD 2023 : সিনেমার সমাবর্তন অনুষ্ঠানে চাঁদের হাট, সেরা অভিনেতা-অভিনেত্রীর পুরস্কার উঠল কার ঝুলিতে". Asianet News (in Bengali). 9 January 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ Goswami, Ranita (23 December 2023). "Pradhan Film Review: দুর্নীতির ধর্মপুরে 'মসিহা' দেব, সৌমিতৃষার সঙ্গে রোম্যান্স কতটা জমল? কেমন হল 'প্রধান'?". Hindustan Times (in Bengali). Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ "Cinemar Somabarton Awards 2024: List of Winners". cinemarsomabarton.com. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ "বড়দিনে উড়বে 'প্রজাপতি 2', এবার দেবের নায়িকা কে ? - PROJAPOTI 2". ETV Bharat (in Bengali). 5 January 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ Majumder, Rahul (2 January 2025). "একে 'রঘু ডাকত'-এ রক্ষা নেই, দোসর 'প্রজাপতি ২'! দেব-মিঠুনের নয়া ছবির হাল-হদিশ দিলেন অতনু রায়চৌধুরী". Aajkal (in Bengali). Retrieved 22 April 2025.
- ^ Bhanja, Sandipta (21 December 2021). "Tonic Review: দেবের সঙ্গে পাল্লা দিয়ে অভিনয় পরাণের". Indian Express (in Bengali). Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ Majumder, Suparna (24 December 2021). "Tonic Film Review: বড়দিনের আগেই সিনেমা হলে 'টনিক', কেমন হল দেব-পরাণের যুগলবন্দি? পড়ুন রিভিউ". Sangbad Pratidin (in Bengali). Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ বসু, শতরূপা (24 December 2022). "কেমন হল দেব-মিঠুনের 'প্রজাপতি'? জানাচ্ছে আনন্দবাজার অনলাইন". Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali). Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ Chakraborty, Shamayita (3 August 2022). "Dev and Avijit Sen pray at Kasi Viswanath Temple while shooting for Projapoti in Varanasi". OTTplay. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ Niyogi, Agnivo (26 December 2023). "Pradhan: Dev and Avijit Sen's third collaboration is a compelling social drama". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ Das, Santanu (23 December 2023). "Pradhan movie review: Dev shines in Avijit Sen's earnest and sincere cop drama". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ Kanji, Subhasmita (1 January 2025). "Dev-Projapati 2: 'প্রতীক্ষা' নয়, অভিজিৎ-অতনু-দেব ত্রয়ীর নতুন ছবির নাম 'প্রজাপতি ২'! কবে আসছে ছবি?". Hindustan Times (in Bengali). Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Torsha (2 January 2025). "নতুন বছরে দেব-অভিজিৎ-অতনুর নতুন উপহার, আসছে 'প্রজাপতি'-র সিক্যুয়াল". ABP Ananda (in Bengali). Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ Ghoshal, Sharmistha (3 January 2022). "Debutant filmmaker Avijit Sen talks about his film Tonic starring Dev and Paran Bandyopadhyay". Cinema Express. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
- ^ Chatterjee, Arindam (25 September 2023). "The blockbuster trio of Dev, Avijit Sen and Atanu Raychaudhuri have come together with the new film Pradhan". t2 Online. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "Avijit Sen calls Dev natural actor, says Mithun Chakraborty's eyes speak more than words". Times of India. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2025.
- ^ "'Boronbabur bondhu' & Tonic get Filmfare Bangla best film award". ThePrint. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ "Memorable moments from Anandalok Puraskar 2022". The Telegraph. 25 May 2022.
- ^ Barman, Teesta (11 March 2023). "Joy Filmfare Awards Bangla 2022 Winners List: বল্লভপুর থেকে প্রজাপতি, দোস্তজী থেকে চিনার পাতা, বাংলা ফিল্মফেয়ারে জয়ীদের তালিকা". News18 (in Bengali). Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ Mukherjee, Priyanka (8 January 2023). "WBFJA Awards 2023: বাংলার সাংবাদিকদের বিচারে সেরা অভিনেতা দেব, জনপ্রিয় অভিনেতা মিঠুন, গায়ক অরিজিৎ!". Hindustan Times (in Bengali). Retrieved 18 April 2025.
- ^ Mukherjee, Priyanka (30 March 2024). "Filmfare Bangla 2024 Winner List: বাংলাদেশের ফারিণের কাছে হার সৌমিতৃষার,জোড়া সম্মান অনুপমের;সেরা অভিনেতা প্রসেনজিৎ". Hindustan Times (in Bengali). Retrieved 21 April 2025.
External links
[edit]- Avijit Sen at IMDb