Noted Filmmaker Anil Ganguly Passes Away

15 January, Mumbai

Noted Bollywood film producer Anil Ganguly passed away early Friday at his residence, following a brief illness.

He was 82, and survived by daughter Rupali Ganguly and son Vijay Ganguly.

He took his last breath this morning and was cremated in the afternoon.

Ganguly was the noted Indian film director and screenwriter, who worked in Hindi Cinema from 1970s to the 1990s.

He is best known for Jaya Bhaduri-starrer ‘Kora Kagaz’ (1974) and ‘Tapasya’ (1975), both of which won the National Film Awards for Best Popular Film, providing wholesome entertainment.

His other noted film was Anil Kapoor and Amrita Singh-starrer ‘Saaheb’ (1985). Later in his career, he made several action films, mostly with Mithun Chakraborty.

Gangulay started his career by making literary adaptations with strong female roles and themes of marital discord.

For his second film ‘Kora Kagaz’, he adapted Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay’s story ‘Saat Paake Bandha’, previously adapted into a Bengali film by the same name. Film’s female lead Jaya Bhaduri also won Filmfare Best Actress Award for her role.

His next film, ‘Tapasya’ (1975) with Raakhee as lead, was produced by Rajshri Productions and was based on a story by Ashapurna Devi. Raakhee won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her role.

Ganguly later adapted Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel ‘Parineeta’ as ‘Sankoch’ (1976), with Sulakshana Pandit and Jeetendra as leads.

‘Humkadam’, again starring Raakhee and made in 1980, was an adaptation of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Mahanagar’.