Early life and background

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was born in city of Calcutta now Kolkata, in a Bengali Brahmin family.He studied science and graduated in chemistry from the University of Calcutta. He taught mathematics and science for some time.

Career

Mukherjee chose to begin working, initially as a cameraman, and then film editor, in B. N. Sircar's New Theatres in Calcutta in the late 1940s, where he learned his skills from Subodh Mitter ('Kenchida'), a well known editor of his times. He then worked with Bimal Roy in Mumbai as film editor and assistant director from 1951, participating in the landmark Roy films Do Bigha Zamin and Devdas.

His debut directorial venture, Musafir (1957), was not a success, but he persisted and received acclaim for his second film Anari in 1959. The film, crew and cast won five Filmfare Awards, with Mukherjee only losing the Best Director Award to his mentor, Bimal Roy.

In the following years he made numerous films. Some of his most notable films include: Anuradha (1960), Asli-Naqli (1962), Anand (1971), Anupama (1966), Aashirwad (1968), Satyakam (1969), Guddi (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Abhimaan (1973), Namak Haraam (1973), Mili (1975), Chupke Chupke (1975), Gol Maal (1979), Khubsoorat (1980) and Bemisal (1982). He was the first to introduce Dharmendra in comedy roles, through Chupke Chupke, and gave Amitabh Bachchan his big break with Anand in 1970, along with Rajesh Khanna, he also introduced Jaya Bhaduri to Hindi cinema in his film Guddi. Having worked with his mentor, Bimal Roy as an editor, in films like Madhumati, he was much sought after as an editor as well.

Later life

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award by the Government of India, in 1999. Mukherjee was chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification and of the National Film Development Corporation. He was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award for his contribution to Indian cinema by government of India in 2001 . The International Film Festival of India honoured him with a retrospective of his films in November 2005. He holds the distinction of working with almost all the top Indian stars since independence of India in 1947.

His last film was Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate. Since his original hero Amol Palekar had grown old he had to cast Anil Kapoor. He has also directed TV serials like Talaash. Another director making films akin to him is Basu Chatterjee.

Death

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was suffering from chronic renal failure and would go to Lilavati Hospital for dialysis. He was admitted to Leelavati Hospital in Mumbai early on Tuesday, 6 June 2006 after he complained of uneasiness. Mukherjee died ten weeks later on 27 August 2006.

Personal life

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was married and has three daughters and two sons. His wife died more than three decades before him. He was an animal lover and had many dogs and sometimes an odd cat at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai. He used to stay alone with servants and pets in his last phase of life. Family members and friends would visit him regularly.

Awards

• 2001: Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India
• 2001: NTR National Award

Berlin International Film Festival

• 1961: Golden Bear: Nomination: Anuradha

Filmfare Awards

• 1956: Filmfare Best Editing Award: Naukari
• 1959: Filmfare Best Editing Award: Madhumati
• 1970: Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Anokhi Raat
• 1972: Filmfare Best Movie Award: Anand shared with N. C. Sippy
• 1972: Filmfare Best Editing Award: Anand
• 1972: Filmfare Best Story Award: Anand
• 1981: Filmfare Best Movie Award: Khubsoorat shared with N. C. Sippy
• 1994: Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award - South (1994)

National Film Awards

• 1957: Certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature Film in Hindi - Musafir
• 1959: President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi - Anari
• 1960: President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film - Anuradha
• 1999: Dada Saheb Phalke Award

Notable Films

Year	Film	Starring
1957	Musafir	Dilip Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Suchitra Sen and Usha Kiran.
1959	Anari	Raj Kapoor, Nutan, Lalita Pawar and Motilal.
1960	Anuradha	Balraj Sahni, Leela Naidu
1962	Asli-Naqli	Dev Anand, Sadhna
	Aashiq	Raj Kapoor, Padmini
1964	Saanjh Aur Savera	Guru Dutt
1966	Anupama	Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Shashikala, Tarun Bose
	Gaban	Sunil Dutt, Sadhana
1968	Aashirwad	Ashok Kumar
1969	Satyakam	Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore
	Pyar Ka Sapna	Mala Sinha, Biswajeet
1971	Anand	Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan
	Guddi	Dharmendra, Jaya Bhaduri, Utpal Dutt, Samit Bhanja
1972	Bawarchi	Rajesh Khanna, Jaya Bhaduri
1973	Abhimaan	Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Asrani
	Namak Haraam	Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha
1975	Chupke Chupke	Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Jaya Bhaduri
	Mili	Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri
1977	Alaap	Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha
1979	Gol Maal	Amol Palekar, Utpal Dutt, Bindiya Goswami
1980	Khubsoorat	Rekha, Rakesh Roshan, Ashok Kumar
1981	Naram Garam	Amol Palekar, Utpal Dutt, Swaroop Sampat, Shatrughan Sinha
1983	Rang Birangi	Amol Palekar, Parveen Babi, Deepti Naval, Farooq Sheikh
1983	Kissise Na Kehna	Utpal Dutt, Deepti Naval, Farooq Sheikh
1998	Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate	Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Amrish Puri

Films as director

• Musafir (1957)
• Anari (1959)
• Anuradha (1960)
• Memdidi (1961)
• Chhaya (1961)
• Asli-Naqli (1962)
• Aashiq (1962)
• Sanjh Aur Savera (1964)
• Do Dil (1965)
• Gaban (1966)
• Biwi Aur Makaan (1966)
• Anupama (1966)
• Majhli Didi (1967)
• Aashirwad (1968)
• Satyakam (1969)
• Pyar Ka Sapna (1969)
• Anand (1970)
• Guddi (1971)
• Buddha Mil Gaya (1971)
• Sabse Bada Sukh (1972)
• Bawarchi (1972)
• Abhimaan (1973)
• Namak Haraam (1973)
• Phir Kab Milogi (1974)
• Mili (1975)
• Chupke Chupke (1975)
• Chaitali (1975)
• Arjun Pandit (1976)
• Alaap (1977)
• Kotwal Saab (1977)
• Naukri (1978)
• Gol Maal (1979)
• Jurmana (1979)
• Khubsoorat (1980)
• Naram Garam (1981)
• Bemisal (1982)
• Kissi Se Na Kehna (1983)
• Rang Birangi (1983)
• Achha Bura (1983)
• Jhoothi (1985)
• Lathi (1988)
• Namumkin (1988)
• Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate (1998)

Films as editor, writer and/or assistant director

Year	Film	Production Function	Notes
1947	Tathapi
1950	Maa
1951	Do Bigha Zamin	Scenario, editor, Assistant Director
1953	Parineeta	Editor
1954	Biraj Bahu	Editor
1955	Devdas
1955	Garam Coat	Editor
1958	Madhumati	Editor
1959	Heera Moti
1961	Char Diwari	Editor
1965	Chemmeen	Editor
1970	Dastak	Editor
1977	Alaap	Story, producer
1983	Coolie	Editor

TV serials

• Hum Hindustani (1986)
• Talaash (1992)
• Dhoop Chhaon
• Rishte
• Ujaale Ki Or

Further reading

• Great Masters of Indian Cinema: The Dadasaheb Phalke Award Winners, by D. P. Mishra, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 2006. ISBN 81-230-1361-2. page 122.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]