M A I N   N E W S

Dada Saheb Phalke Award for Mrinal Sen

New Delhi, January 10
Noted filmmaker Mrinal Sen will be the recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2003 for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema, it was announced today.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam would present the award to the director at the 51st National Film Awards function here on February 2.

The octogenarian filmmaker achieved national and international fame directing an array of films in Bengali and Hindi like “Neel Akasher Nichey”, the Kolkata trilogy “Padatik”, “Interview” and “Kolkata Ekattor”, “Oka Uri Katha”, “Genesis,” “Mahaprithivi,” “Kharij”, “Ek Din Protidin,” “Bhuvan Shome”, “Akaler Sandhaney”, “Khandahar”, “Ek Din Achanak” and “Antareen”.

“Kharij”, starring Mamatashankar and Anjan Dutta, took home the jury prize in 1983 in the Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Karlovy Vary film festivals.

A Padma Bhushan awardee, Sen was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1998 to 2003.

Born on May 14, 1923, in Faridpur, now in Bangladesh, Sen made his first feature film “Raat Bhore” followed by “Neel Akasher Neechey” starring Kali Banerjee. Retrospectives of his films have been shown in many countries across the world.

Known for his pro-Left ideology, Sen has made feature films in Hindi, Bengali, Oriya and Telugu. He has also made several documentaries. — PTI