Anjan Dutt

Anjan Dutt
Anjan Dutt
Background information
Native name	অঞ্জন দত্ত
Born	(1953-01-19) 19 January 1953 Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Origin	Kolkata
Genres	Urban Folk, Bengali Modern
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, director
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1981–present
Labels	RPG, Sagarika Musics Pvt Ltd.
Associated acts	Kabir Suman, Nachiketa Chakraborty

Anjan Dutt (19 January 1953) is an Indian film director, actor, and singer-songwriter- and a professional of the 1991s Bengali music scene defined by anyodharar gaan (alternative music)- reminiscent of western folk music. His music is said to be influenced by blues, bluegrass, folk and country music.He is an admitted fan of Bob Dylan and his Bengali contemporary Kabir Suman.

He is also an accomplished actor starting his career in Bengali cinema. His first film was Chalachirto directed by Mrinal Sen, where he won the prize for the best newcomer actor, at the Venice Film Festival. He has acted in Aparna Sen's him film, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. He is also a national award-winning filmmaker and is one of the most prominent directors of Bengali Cinema, directing The Bong Connection, Chalo Let's Go, Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona.In recent years, he has been directing the Byomkesh Bakshi movie series. In 2018 he featured in Swapnasandhani's new play Taraye Taraye, as Vincent Van Gogh, under the direction of Kaushik Sen.

His love for Byomkesh Bakshi runs back to his childhood when he named his first guitar "Ajit" after the aforementioned sleuth's sidekick.

Early years

Anjan Dutt was raised in the mountains of North Bengal. He had his schooling from St. Paul's School located in Darjeeling.

In the late seventies, he joined a group called 'Open Theatre' and in early eighties performed plays translated from works of renowned foreign playwrights like Sartre, Peter Weiss, Jean Genet and Bertold Brecht. The group clearly drew inspiration from Nandikar a highly active and an already famous theatre group at that time. But due to politically sensitive content, they faced many obstructions in producing and performing their work, and eventually, the group had to discontinue its repertoire.

He was first selected in a feature film named 'Chalachitro' - directed by renowned filmmaker Mrinal Sen. The film and his performance were critically acclaimed in the Venice Film Festival but for unknown reasons, it was never released commercially. He said that he was more interested in doing art cinema rather than commercial mainstream cinema. After doing a few art films that were not so commercially successful, including the critically well-received 'Juganto', scarcity of job opportunities forced him to take up jobs in advertising and later as a journalist for the Kolkata-based daily, The Statesman.

Singing career

At that time, Anjan was greatly influenced by the music of Kabir Suman who had heralded a new era in Bengali music through his songs. These songs and lyrics, commonly referred to as Jeebonmukhi (literally meaning towards life), concerned itself with the tough reality of Bengali middle-class social life, in and around Kolkata.

Discography

Filmography

Awards

• 1981 - Best Actor award for film Chaalchitra in Venice Film Festival^[1]
• 2012 - National Film Award - Special Jury Award for Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona

See also

• Neel Dutt

References

2014– sesh bole kichu nai

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anjan Dutt.

• Anjan Dutt on IMDb