Sashadhar Mukherjee

2022-05-30T09:25:01Z

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{{short description|Indian film producer}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sashadhar Mukherjee
| image = Sasadhar Mukherjee.jpg
| caption = Mukherjee in November 1945
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1909|09|29}}
| birth_place = [[Jhansi]], [[Gwalior State]], [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br />{{small|(present–day [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]])}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1990|11|03|1909|09|29}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai|Bombay]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]<br />{{small|(present-day [[Mumbai]])}}
| occupation = [[Filmmaking|Filmmaker]]
| notable_works=
| spouse = Sati Devi
| children = 6 (including [[Joy Mukherjee]], [[Deb Mukherjee]], and [[Shomu Mukherjee]])
| relatives = [[Ashok Kumar]]<br />[[Anoop Kumar]]<br />[[Kishore Kumar]]
(All; brother-in-law)
| family = [[Mukherjee-Samarth family]]
}}

'''Sashadhar Mukherjee''' (29 September 1909 – 3 November 1990) was an Indian filmmaker in [[Bollywood|Hindi cinema]]. He started his career with [[Bombay Talkies]] in the 1930s, and later established [[Filmistan|Filmistan Studio]] with Rai Bahadur Chunilal (father of music director [[Madan Mohan (music director)|Madan Mohan]]), [[Ashok Kumar]] and [[Gyan Mukherjee]] in 1943. In the 1950s, he went on to start his independent studio, Filmalaya. He is noted for films like ''[[Dil Deke Dekho]]'' (1959), ''[[Love in Simla]]'' (1960), ''[[Ek Musafir Ek Hasina]]'' (1962) and ''[[Leader (1964 film)|Leader]]'' (1964). He is part of the distinguished [[Mukherjee-Samarth family|Mukherjee clan]] of [[Bollywood]].

He won the [[Filmfare Award for Best Film#Winners and nominees|Filmfare Award for Best Film]] in 1956 for ''[[Jagriti]]''. In 1967, he was awarded the [[Padma Shri]], India's fourth highest civilian honour by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Padma Awards Directory (1954–2009)|publisher=[[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]]|url=http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/LST-PDAWD.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510095705/http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/LST-PDAWD.pdf|archive-date=10 May 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Family==
Mukherjee was born on 29 September 1909 in [[Jhansi]] into an educated, middle-class Bengali Hindu family, the second of four brothers. His father, who belonged to minor gentry, had received an English education and was in government service. The family, at that time, had nothing to do with the entertainment business or any other trade; however, not only Sasadhar but also two of his three brothers were to make a name for themselves in the film industry. Mukherjee's younger brothers were film director [[Subodh Mukherjee]] and film producer Prabodh Mukherjee. His elder brother was Ravindramohan Mukherjee, who had little contact with the film industry, but whose grand-daughter is the successful actress [[Rani Mukerji]].

Mukherjee was married when he was a teenager to Sati Devi Mukherjee (nee Ganguli), a teenage girl of his own Bengali Hindu community and similar family background, in a match arranged by their parents in the usual Indian way. Sati Devi's father was also in government service, and that family was also settled in the Hindi-speaking provinces; resultantly, both families spoke Hindi with native-level fluency. This proved important because, mostly due to Mukherjee's influence, all three of Sati Devi's brothers were to become actors and big names in the Hindi film industry. Her brothers were the venerable actor [[Ashok Kumar]], [[Anoop Kumar]] and [[Kishore Kumar]], who was an actor, but more famously a playback singer. Sasadhar Mukherjee was instrumental in helping his own brothers and his wife's brothers to establish themselves in the film industry, and this is perhaps his most important and enduring contribution to Indian films.

Sasadhar and Sati Devi were blessed with six children, five sons and one daughter, namely Rono (nee) Mukherjee, [[Joy Mukherjee]], [[Deb Mukherjee]], [[Shomu Mukherjee]], Shibani Maulik and Shubir Mukherjee. All of their sons were active in the film industry, including the superstar [[Joy Mukherjee]], and some of their grand-children are likewise involved. Deb Mukherjee's son is film director [[Ayan Mukherjee]], who directed ''[[Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani]]'' (2013).<ref name="timesofindia">{{Cite web | title = Ayan Mukherjee wants to remake grandpa's 'Love in Simla' | url = http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-17/news-interviews/39334996_1_simla-satyajit-ray-sashadhar-mukherjee | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131005002416/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-17/news-interviews/39334996_1_simla-satyajit-ray-sashadhar-mukherjee | url-status = dead | archive-date = 5 October 2013 | date =17 May 2013 | work = [[The Times of India]] | access-date = 16 June 2013 }}</ref> Shomu married the actress [[Tanuja]] (daughter of [[Shobhana Samarth]] and sister of [[Nutan]]) and became the father of two daughters, [[Kajol]] and [[Tanishaa Mukerji|Tanisha]], and these grand-daughters of Sasadhar have also become actresses.

==Career==
He was a producer for [[Bombay Talkies]], and after the death of [[Himanshu Rai]] in 1940, was involved in a tussle for control of Bombay Talkies with [[Devika Rani]], actress and widow of Himanshu.<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011215/windows/main1.htm The inimitable Dadamoni]. [[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]. 15 December 2001.</ref><ref>Roshmila Bhattacharya. [http://www.screenindia.com/20020503/fspe.html Kismet: The crook and the cripple]. Screen magazine.</ref>

In 1943, Sashadhar Mukherjee formed a partnership with Rai Bahadur Chunilal, Ashok Kumar and [[Gyan Mukherjee]], and they started the studio [[Filmistan]] in [[Goregaon]].<ref name="Gulzar593">[[#Gu|Gulzar, p. 593]]</ref> The first film they planned at Filmistan was ''Chal Chal Re Naujawan'' with Naseem Bano and Ashok Kumar who had by then become a star. Sadat Hassan Manto, Ismat Chughtai, Pt. Pradeep and so many other intelligent, talented, and creative people were associated with Filmistan. Filmistan gave breaks and made stars out of [[Shammi Kapoor]], [[Dev Anand]] and many more. Mukherjee made unforgettable and classic films there like ''Anarkali'', ''Nagin'', ''Tumsa Nahin Dekha'', ''Munim ji'', and ''Paying Guest''. He groomed [[Nasir Hussain]] as a Director.

In the 1950s, Sashadhar formed his own production house called [[Filmalaya Studios]] in [[Andheri]], near Amboli. He also ran an acting school and was instrumental in giving actresses like [[Asha Parekh]] and [[Sadhana]] a break in films. Sanjeev Kumar was also a product of Filmalaya Acting school. [[Nasir Hussain]] was a director involved with his productions as were [[R. K. Nayyar]] and Gyan Mukherjee; music director [[O. P. Nayyar]] was also associated with his solo productions. He launched his son Joy with the film ''[[Love in Simla]]'' (1960); he also produced films like ''[[Ek Musafir Ek Hasina]]'' to further his son's career. When [[Dilip Kumar]] wanted to make a film on corrupt politicians he came to Mukherjee and made ''[[Leader (1964 film)|Leader]]''. Sambandh was his last production, though it was produced by his cousin [[Ram Mukherjee]].<ref>[[Sambandh (film)]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=May 2020}} Sashadhar Mukherjee died on 3 November 1990.

==Filmography==

{| class="sortable wikitable collapsible"
|-
! Year !! Title !! Director !! Notes
|-
|rowspan="1"|1939
|''Kangan''||||
|-
|rowspan="1"|1940
|''[[Bandhan (1940 film)|Bandhan]]''||N.R. Acharya||Banner: [[Bombay Talkies]]
|-
|1941||''[[Jhoola (1941 film)|Jhoola]]''||[[Gyan Mukherjee]]||
|-
|1954||''[[Jagriti]]''||[[Satyen Bose]]||[[Filmfare Award for Best Film#Winners and nominees|Filmfare Award for Best Film]] in 1956
|-
|-1954||''[[Nagin]]''[[Highest Grossing movie of 1954]] Producer'' [[Banner Filmistan]]
|rowspan="1"|1955
|''[[Munimji]]''||[[Subodh Mukherjee]]||[[Filmistan]]
|-
|rowspan="2"|1957
|''[[Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957 film)|Tumsa Nahin Dekha]]''|| [[Nasir Hussain]]||[[Filmistan]]
|-
|''[[Paying Guest]]''||[[Subodh Mukherjee]]||[[Filmistan]]
|-
|rowspan="1"|1959
|''[[Dil Deke Dekho]]''||[[Nasir Hussain]]||Filmalaya
|-
|rowspan="1"|1960
|''[[Love in Simla]]''||R. K. Nayyar ||Filmalaya
|-
|1962
|''[[Ek Musafir Ek Hasina]]''|| [[Raj Khosla]]||
|-
|rowspan="2"|1964
|''[[Leader (1964 film)|Leader]]''||[[Ram Mukherjee]]||
|-
|''Aao Pyar Karen''|| [[R. K. Nayyar]]||
|-
|1965
|''Tu Hi Meri Zindagi''||Rono Mukherjee||
|}

==Dedication in Memory==
As founder of Filmalaya Studio,<ref>https://www.facebook.com/pages/Filmalaya-Studio/515055895186717 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> the film ''[[Pathar Ke Insan]]'', was dedicated to the memory of Sashadhar Mukherjee.
* ''[[Pathar Ke Insan]]'' (1990)<ref>[[Mukherjee-Samarth family]][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzA2PQP1zo]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|author1=Gulzar|author2=Govind Nihalani|author3=Saibal Chatterjee|title=Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8y8vN9A14nkC&pg=PT617|year=2003|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7991-066-5|ref= Gu}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=2549358}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Art}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherjee, Sashadhar}}
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Film producers from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:People from Jhansi]]
[[Category:Hindi film producers]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts]]
[[Category:Filmfare Awards winners]]
[[Category:1909 births]]

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Sashadhar Mukherjee