Pramathesh Chandra Barua
Pramathesh Chandra Barua ( Popularly known as PCBarua ) was a highly talented actor, director and screen play writer of Bengali and hindi movies in 1930s and 1940s . He virtually revolutionised the technique and ways of film making in the country when the cinema was in most formative stage .
PCBarua was born on 24th, October, 1903 at Gauripur, Dhubri, Assam in a royal hindu family .He studied at Hare School, Calcutta and in 1924 did BSc from Presidency College and got married at a young age of 18 while still doing his graduation.
Barua started his film career in 1929 by appearing in a film named Panchashar , directed by Debaki Kumar Bose. He then acted in film Takay Ki Na Hay टके की ना है , a film directed by Dhiren Ganguly.
In 1939 he went to Paris with letter of introduction from Rabindranath Tagore and received thorough training in cinematography in Paris including lighting in studios at the Fox Studio.
He purchased lighting equipments and returned back and acted in and made his first film ‘ Apradhi ‘ अपराधी under artificial lights for the first time in indian cinema as before that Indian films were shot with the help of reflected sunrays. He also made necessary changes in the makeup process to suit the artificial lighting and this experiment of make up of artists cost him a lot of money but it radically changed the system of film making in the country .
In 1932, when the talkie era came , he made his first film named Bengal-1983 which was Released by Rabindranath Tagore .
In 1933, he joined the New Theatres of BN Sarkar where he excelled in all technical aspects of film-making like direction, acting, script writing, photograph composition, editing and other necessary film related skills .
Here he acted and directed film Rooplekha which was released in 1934 and was the first indian film in which flashback system was used for narrating the story .
In 1935 he made the superhit film ‘ Devdas’ in bengali based on 1901 story of famous writer sarat chandra Chattopadhyay and performed the main lead role of devdas so beautifully that the character of devdas turned in to a legend. The Cinema experts have opined that devdas was the first successful social film in the country and it revolutionised the structure and outlook of the Indian social films . The hindi version of the film was also directed by Barua except that the lead role was played by the legendary KLSehgal .
Both versions were commercially superhit .
Film devdas is also admired for the appropriate use of techniques of ‘flashback’, closeup , montage , wipe dissolve and ‘fade-in and fade-out’ and was also a landmark in the world cinema for the introduction of the technique of ‘intercut telepathy shot’.
Again in his 1937 film ‘Mukti ‘ he for the first time introduced the outdoor shooting system ( the film being mostly shot outside the studios exhibiting the scenic beauty of Assam ) but it took indian film industry another 20 years to begin outdoor shooting .
Barua Saheb is also credited for making the first comedy film in the country through his 1939 film ‘Rajat Jayanti’ which made the audience burst in to laughter.
He also made a brave and successful attempt to blend Indian classical music with Western music through Shri Timirbaran which before that was considered almost impossible.
In 1940, he made the film Shapmukti शापमुक्ती which greatly appealed to the audience for its highly tragic scenes with the film ending with 3 successive death sequences which Barua saheb picturised with pioneering ‘ cut-shot’ technique which was greatly admired by French film critic Georges Sadoul .
The highly talented Barua saheb is also credited for mentoring Shri Phani Majumdar and film photographer Bimal Roy both of whom later became highly successful and famous film directors .
In 1939 Barua saheb parted with New Theatres and became independent and a freelancer .
In his short career; PCBarua directed 27 Films, acted and directed 22 Films and wrote stories/ screenplays for 6 films in bengali and/or hindi and left a lasting impression of his overall cinema prowess , great talent and for introducing several firsts in cinematography in the country and will be remembered for a long long time .
Just like KLSehgal, heavy drinking prematurely killed Barua Saheb on 29.11.1951 at an age of just 48.
Sadly several unsung heroes of indian film industry during it’s early period like PcBarua and Prem Adib were not posthumously rewarded or honoured by the govt after independence !!
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Five stars
:PCBarua ‘s films
( from 1932 to 1953 )
A. As actor and director ( both )
1.Bengal -1983 (1932)
2.Roop Lekha (1934)
3.Devdas (1935)
4.Maya (1936 )
5.Manzil (1936)
6.Grihadah (1936)
7.Mukti (1937)
8.Adhikar (1938)
9.Rajat Jayanti (1939)
10. Zindagi (1940)
11.Shap Mukti (1940)
12.Mayer Pran (1941)
13.Uttarayan (1941)
14.Jawab (1942)
15.Shesh Uttar (1942)
16.Rani (1943)
17.Chander Kalanka (1944)
18.Subah Shyam (1944)
19.Ameeree (1945)
20.Pehchan (1946)
21.Iran Ki Ek Raat (1949)
22.Maya Kanan (1953)
B. As story writer
1.Rajat Jayanti (1939)
2.Adhikar (1938)
3.Mukti (1937)
4.Maya (1936 )
5.Devdas (1935 )
6.Ekada (1932)
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