Shakti Samanta
Shakti Samanta ( Bengali: শক্তি সামন্ত, Shakti Samanta, born January 13, 1926 in Bardhaman, † April 9, 2009 in Mumbai) was an Indian film director and producer.
Life
Samantha grew up in Dehradun. In 1944 he graduated from Calcutta University. He first worked as a teacher and had his entry into the Hindi film industry in 1948 as an assistant director at Bombay Talkies. In this role, he worked for directors Gyan Mukherjee, Satish Nigam and Phani Majumdar. He made his directorial debut in 1954 with Bahu. In 1957 he founded after a few directing his own film production company " Shakti movie," their first production Howrah Bridge with Ashok Kumar and Madhubala became a success with the public alike in the lead roles. Samantas movies Aradhana (1969) and Anuraag (1972 ) were each awarded a Filmfare Award for Best Film.
Shakti Samanta was five years President of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association, seven years Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification and headed two years, the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata.
His son Ashim Samanta is also a film director; Shakti Samanta produced several of his films. Samanta died at the age of 83 of heart failure.