Published on 12:00 AM, November 17, 2012

Subhash passes away


Subhash Dutta, an iconic figure of Bangla cinema, died of old age complications at his residence in the capital yesterday.
The noted filmmaker breathed his last around 7:10am at his Ramkrishna Mission Road house. He was 82.
He is survived by two sons, two daughters and many grandchildren. His wife passed away in 2001.
Around noon today, his body will be kept at the Central Shaheed Minar and later will be taken to Bangladesh Film Development Corporation to enable his well-wishers and fans pay their last respects to him.
He will be cremated at the Postagola Cremation Ground in the evening.
President Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Textiles and Jute Minister Abdul Latif Siddique expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Subhash Dutta.
In separate messages, they said his demise is an irreparable loss to the country's film industry as well as to the cultural arena.
He was one of the few great filmmakers who dedicated themselves in establishing films as an eloquent medium of art in Bangladesh. And in this enterprise, he made a good number of films that immensely contributed to the making of a golden era of Bangla cinema.
Born on February 9, 1930, in Dinajpur, he started his career in the Dhaka film industry at a time when Urdu and Hindi movies were reigning in local movie theatres.
A versatile talent, Subhash started his professional career as a poster designer for the first ever Bangla film Mukh O Mukhosh. He was the art director of the film “Matir Pahar.”
In the early days of his career, he played comic roles in mainstream movies and became popular.
He appeared in Ei Desh Tomar Amar, Rajdhanir Bukey, Harano Din, Talash, Sutarang and many other films.
He intended to produce Bangla films that would emulate real life of the masses.
Subhash, spurred by this ambition, made his first film Abirbhab.
The movie not only won the hearts of the local audience, but also fetched him a prestigious award at the Frankfurt Film Festival.
His film Sutarang was awarded at the Asian Film Festival in Frankfurt in 1964.
Apart from being awarded the Ekushey Padak in 1999, he received many other awards including the National Film Award for his contributions to the film industry.