Jyotish Bannerjee

The principal filmmaker at Madan Theatres during the silent era, Jyotish Bannerjee (also known as Joyotish Bandyopadhyay) played a key role in shaping both the studio’s and Bengali cinema’s foundations. A prolific filmmaker in Bengali and Hindi with more than 60 directorials to his credit, he directed many of the theatrical and literary adaptations that would come to define Madan’s signature style. Films he is known for include Matri Sneha (1923), Manmoyee Girls School (1935) which is considered one of the most successful stage adaptations in the Bengali cinema, Karnarjun (1941), and Shakuntala (1941). 

Born in 1887 in Bihar, Bannerjee began his career as a typist at Madan Theatres. He later became a member of their core filmmaking team which also consisted of Priyanath Ganguly, Jyotish Mukherjee, Amar Choudhary, B J Rajhans, Abdur Rehman Kabuli, Jyotish Sarkar and T Marconi. He made his first film Mahabharat in 1920. He also assisted Eugenio De Liguoro during the making of two successful films Nala Damayanti (1920) and Dhruva Charitra (1921). Nala Damayanti was a big-budget film with elements of fantasy and drama. Starring Patience Cooper and Keki Adajania in the lead roles, it depicted a famous episode from the epic Mahabharata, starting with Narada's ascent of Mount Meru. It depicted Swarga, the Heaven of Indra, the Transformation in the Clouds of the Four Gods into impersonations of King Nala, Swan Messengers of Love, the Transformation of Kali (the Demon of Evil) into a Serpent, the Meeting of Kali and Dwapor and the Four Gods amidst the Blue Air.

He also worked with C Legrand in Vishnuavtar (1921), starring Patience Cooper.

Some of his early films were Bishabriksha (1922), Matri Sneh (1922), Nartaki Tara (1922), Mishar Rani (1924), Jaler Meye (1925), Dharmapatni (1926), Chandidas (1927), and Indira (1929) among others. His films in the early 1920s were mostly adaptations of stage productions by the Elphinstone and Corinthian companies. 

In the late 1920s, when Madan acquired the rights for Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay’s works, he made several adaptations of those literary pieces. Also adapting the likes of Girish Ghosh, Rabindra Mohan Maitra and Romesh Chandra Dutt, his films set the tone for the literary films in Bengal, which also became Madan Theatres’ signature genre. 

After 1933, he became a freelancer. He continued this style of adaptation in the 1930s as well, making films like Krishnakanter Will (1932) and Manmoyee Girls’ School (1935). Krishnakanter Will, starring Ahindra Chowdhury, Santi Gupta, and Nirmalendu Lahiri, was based on the play of the same name by the venerable Bengali writer Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. The plot revolved around a rich zamindar, Krishnakanta, who wishes to write a will disposing of his property and does not wish to give the entire estate to his wayward son. Instead, he decides to give a good part of the estate to his dead brother’s son. The film tells the story of how Krishnakanta’s own son and his nephew, both fall into the trap of greed and love respectively, resulting in the death of their loved ones.

His directorial Manmoyee Girls’ School was an adaptation of a successful Star Theatres’ comedy and ended up a huge success, particularly due to a bravura performance by Kanan Devi. The film later enjoyed multiple remakes in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi languages. Adapted from a hit play, it depicted a zamindar Damodar Chakraborty (Chakraborty) who starts a school named after his wife and recruits a married couple as teachers. Manas (Ganguly in the role which had made him a stage star) and Niharika (Kanan Devi) pretend to be married in order to get the jobs. Their imposture, together with the fact that he is Hindu while she is Christian, produces complications.

Later in his career, Bannerjee worked in Radha Films, Bharatlaxmi Pictures and Indrapuri Studio. His directorials in the 1940s included Milan (1942) starring Ratin Banerjee, Biman Bannerjee and Dhiraj Bhattacharya; Devar (1943) starring Chhabi Biswas, Ashu Bose, and Tulsi Chakraborty; Kalankini (1945) starring Dhiraj Bhattacharya, Ashu Bose, and Tulsi Chakraborty; Prem Ki Duniya (1946) starring Alaknanda, Chhabi Biswas, and Ahindra Choudhury; Banchita (1948) starring Dhiraj Bhattacharya, Jiben Bose, and Tulsi Chakraborty; Kalo Ghorah (1948) starring Ashu Bose, Ahindra Choudhury, and Aparna Devi; and Robin Master (1949) starring Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Rajlakshmi Devi, and Indira Roy. In 1950, he directed Sheshbesh, starring Ajit Banerjee, Abhi Bhattacharya, and Tulsi Chakraborty. 

On 4 March 2020, the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) announced that it had acquired rare footage of Madhabi Kankan, also known as Slave Girl of Agra – a silent era film directed by Bannerjee. It was considered a significant find given that the recovered film was among the early films made by Banerjee under the Madan Theatres banner. Madhabi Kankan was an adaptation of Romesh Chunder Dutt’s historical novel, and starred Mumtaz Begum, Lalita Devi, Nawab, Bhanu Bannerjee and others, exploring a story of tripartite love. The film revolves around the events in the 17th century when Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s sons fight for the throne. The surviving footage has the characters of Shuja and Jahan Ara along with Shah Jahan.