B. N. Sircar
| B. N. Sircar (Birendranath Sircar) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 July 1901 Bhagalpur |
| Died | 28 November 1980 Calcutta, India |
| Occupation | film producer |
B. N. Sircar /Sarkar (Birendranath Sircar) (1901–1980) was an Indian film producer and the founder of New Theatres Calcutta. He made Bengali-language films that were noted for introducing many film directors who later became famous. He was awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1970 and the third highest civilian award in India, the Padma Bhushan, in 1972.
B. N. Sircar was born in Bhagalpur to the then Advocate-General of Bengal, Sir N. N. Sircar. He studied Engineering at the University of London and on returning to India he was asked to build a cinema. The project caused him to develop a keen interest in film and he proceeded to build a cinema for the screening of Bengali-language films. Called Chitra, this was opened in Calcutta by Subhas Chandra Bose on 30 December 1930 and was followed by the construction of New Cinema, which showed Hindi films. He then decided to involve himself in making of two silent films.
On 10 February 1931, he founded New Theatres Calcutta. A stickler for quality, Sircar attracted directors such as P.C. Barua, Premankor Atharthi, Debaki Bose, Dhiren Ganguly, Bimal Roy and Phani Majumdar under his wings. Actors such as KL Saigal, Pahadi Sanyal, Amar Mullick, Kanan Devi, Chandrabati Devi, Lila Desai Leela Desai and Prithviraj Kapoor were on his payroll. Technicians like Mukul Bose (Sound Recordist- Director), Yusuf Moolji (Cameraman), Nitin Bose (Cameraman-Director) and Subodh Mitra (Editor) were well aware of the various technical innovations being introduced in Hollywood and Europe and were able to adapt many of these within the limitations of the New Theatres Studio lot. Music composers and singers such as RC Boral, Timir Baran and Pankaj Mullick too were associated with New Theatres productions. He was the President of the BMPA in the late 1940s
Dena Paona, a Bengali talkie, was released in 1931, directed by Premankur Atarthi and produced by New Theatres. Famous musician Raichand Boral composed for this movie.
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