Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee have shared their condolences on the death of filmmaker Basu Chatterjee. He died on Thursday following age related health issues. He was 93.
“Sad to hear of the demise of Shri Basu Chatterjee. His works are brilliant and sensitive. It touched people’s hearts and represented the simple and complex emotions, as well as struggles of people. Condolences to his family and innumerable fans. Om Shanti,” the PM tweeted.
Mamata Banerjee wrote, “Saddened at the demise of legendary film director and screenwriter Basu Chatterjee. He gave us gems like Chhoti Si Baat, Chitchor, Rajanigandha, Byomkesh Bakshi, Rajni among others. Condolences to his family, friends, fans and the entire film fraternity.”
Union home minister Amit Shah also tweeted about Basu’s demise. “The demise of veteran filmmaker Shri Basu Chatterjee ji is an irreparable loss to Indian cinema. His way of presenting emotions and reality of life through reel was par excellence. Basu da will always remain alive through his films. Condolences to his family & admirers. Om Shanti,” he wrote.
The last rites of the filmmaker, who blazed a middle-of-the-road trail in the 1970s and 1980s, will be performed at the Santacruz crematorium in Mumbai.
The two Basus (also Basu Bhattacharya) along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee formed the Hindi cinema triumvirate whose ethos lay firmly in the middle class and its day-to-day struggles at a time when most of Bollywood was focused on larger-than-life stories of angst and tragedy led by Amitabh Bachchan. Actors like Vidya Sinha, Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab were the stars that were favoured by Chatterjee to tell aspiring stories of the middle class. Bachchan appeared in just one of his films –Manzil (1979), a poor-rich romance set against the backdrop of Mumbai.
