Shantanu Bagchi is an Indian film director, known for directing the 2023 Bollywood film Mission Majnu.
Wiki/Biography
Shantanu Bachchi was born in Kolkata. He studied graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Shantanu has been inspired by Satyajit Ray since his childhood. He first met him when he was five or six years old and even played the role of a child artist in his film “Sonar Kella”. He plays a boy who is kidnapped in Mukul’s place. His love for filmmaking began when he first watched Satyajit Ray’s film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne. As a child, he was also interested in animation, but he could only see animation on Disney.
Shantanu Bagchi as a child with Satyajit Ray
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 5″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Not much information is available about his parents and siblings.
wife and children
Not much information is available about his wife.
Profession
Movie
Shantanu began his career as a child artist. He appeared in four to five films as a child actor. In 1985, he starred in the film Ramer Sumati, based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s work. In 2023, his film “Mission Majnu” ranked among the top ten movies on Netflix in 18 countries including India, Canada, Singapore, UAE, Bahrain and Sri Lanka. The film became the second-ranked non-English-language film on Netflix globally during its opening weekend and ranked No. 1 in India.
Movie “Mission Majnu” poster
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He moved to Mumbai to pursue a career as an advertising film producer. In 1991, he made his first commercial for Rasna instant orange juice drink, which was an unpaid project. He has worked on around 500 cross-brand ads and has worked with actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Kajol, Saif Ali Khan, Brett Lee, Sachin Tendulkar and Katrina Kaif. According to him, the celebrities he has worked with have never lost their temper with him and he has not faced any problems working with them. He has received many international awards and his work has received many appreciations at the global level at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2015, directed the “Nycil Cool Shower” commercial.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Twice winner of New York Arts Festival Award
Facts/Trivia
- He was very close to Satyajit Ray’s family and was in touch with Sandeep (Ray) whom he visited when he went to Kolkata to meet his sister.
- He said in an interview that he used to tell stories through advertisements and convince the audience. He was sent many movie scripts, but he didn’t like any of them. Finally, he made his debut as a film director in 2023 after liking the script of the film Mission Majnu.
- According to him, he also drew inspiration from Vittorio De Sica, Majid Majidi, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock, James Cameron and Ray He drew inspiration from other filmmakers such as Derry Scott.
- While he was a student, he worked with one of India’s leading children’s comics magazines to showcase his illustration work.
Illustrations by Shantanu Bagchi
- He created two animated films based on RK Laxman’s sketches and Jamini Roy’s paintings.
- Some of his TV commercials were based on RK Laxman’s sketches and Jamini Roy’s paintings.
- In interviews, he talked about working on spy films and said he’s always been interested in making movies about less famous people. He believed that Indian history was the best place to find espionage stories. In the interview, he talked about working on a spy film, saying:
This is a multi-plot movie. It was a challenge to keep the pace and tell it in an engaging way. But I love watching spy thrillers and this is a great story based on true events. I’m excited and happy to be directing such interesting material. “
- According to him, since it was his first time as a director, he encountered some challenges. He said in an interview that because it was his first time, he couldn’t fully express his creativity, and it took some time for the actors he worked with to trust him.
- After the release of his film Mission Majnu, he was criticized by actor Adnan Siddiqui, who said on social media that the film distorted the image of Pakistanis. He further said the film was “disgusting” and inconsistent with the facts. He said in a social media post that Pakistanis “do not wear toques, soumas and tawiz and do not throw adabs” but Sidharth Malhotra, who plays Tariq in the film But wearing these hats.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education