The life and legacy of Sushil Majumdar: Filmmaker, freedom fighter, and much more than Byomkesh Bakshi’s client

For many, the 1971 film Lal Patthar, starring Raaj Kumar and Hema Malini, is a classic. But ask who directed it, and few will remember the answer. That man was Sushil Majumdar — once mentioned in the same breath as directors Pramathesh Barua and Debaki Bose. Today, however, his name has faded from public memory. 

Majumdar’s grandson, filmmaker Sanjay Mishra, is trying to revive his legacy. Mishra compiled a comprehensive filmography in Action: Sushil Majumdar (2023) and produced a documentary on his life titled Sushil Majumdar: The Doyen’s Journey Through Time, directed by Indranil Sarkar.  

The documentary won second runner-up at the 2025 Cannes Film, Content Creators Festival & Award Ceremony in the documentary category. 

The film features interviews with key industry voices — from Lal Patthar’s Lightman Khadu Patro to Sabitri Chatterjee, Umesh Mehra, Paintal, Sandip Ray and Lily Chakravarty. The documentary also includes a rare Doordarshan interview with Majumdar himself. 

Speaking to My Kolkata, Mishra said, “I wanted this film to be shown to a lot of people so that the world is reminded of the legend. I wanted the film to be selected and screened. I am very indebted to them for the win.”  

Majumdar’s journey began not behind the camera, but in front of it. Starting as a poster boy, he trained in cinematography and editing under Barua.  

Majumdar’s first love was acting, which developed while he was studying under Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan. He also acted in the play Falguni in 1916 in Santiniketan. He made his film debut with Santosh K. Hazra’s Jeevan Prabhat (1931). Majumdar went on to star in Aparadhi (1931) and Nishir Daak (1932), before making his directorial debut with the Pramathesh Barua-backed Ekada, a two-reeler comedy, in 1932. 

After the commercial failure of Tarubala (1936), Majumdar found success with Muktisnan (1937) and Rikta (1939), the latter running for 100 weeks in theatres. His rising acclaim brought him to Bombay in 1945, invited by showman S. Mukherji to direct Begum under the Filmistan banner. The film starred Ashok Kumar, Naseem Banu and Sharda — and had a young Raj Kapoor working under Majumdar as an assistant director.   

“I remember, I learned a lot about direction on this assignment. How? Why? Because I had the maximum freedom on the project. Sushil-da left almost everything to me, and I learned a lot by getting to do almost everything on my own,” Raj Kapoor had said in an interview in Bunny Reuben's biography of the legendary filmmaker-actor.   

Majumdar also collaborated with a young S.D. Burman, who composed music for Protishodh (1941) and Abhayer Biye (1957), and possibly for Rikta and Muktisnan as an associate to Vishmadev Chattopadhyay. 

Despite his talent and body of work, accolades eluded Majumdar — likely due to his refusal to bend to industry pressures, recounted his grandson Mishra. Known for his independent spirit, Majumdar was respected by peers and honoured late in life with the BFJA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1983. 

Born on December 22, 1905, in Comilla (now in Bangladesh), Majumdar came from a family of freedom fighters. His father, Basanta Kumar Majumdar, and mother, Hemaprova — the first woman alderman of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation — were both jailed during the freedom struggle. He too was imprisoned multiple times. Majumdar was also close to Subhash Chandra Bose. This background shaped his political and artistic sensibilities, prompting him to make a film like Sipahi Ka Sapna (1948), which featured INA actors. 

While researching for his book Action: Sushil Majumdar, Mishra stumbled upon lesser-known aspects of his grandfather’s career — such as acting credits in Chhayateer (1972) and Dolgobinda Kharcha (1967), and interactions with global cinema legends like Soviet film director-screenwriter Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin. Majumdar was also close to director Alfred Hitchcock.  

Majumdar returned to acting in 1961’s Aaj Kal Porshu and made his final screen appearance in Jibon (1986). One of his most memorable performances was as Nishanath Sen — Byomkesh Bakshi’s client — in Satyajit Ray’s Chiriakhana (1967), co-starring Uttam Kumar. Majumdar also played the chief antagonist in Nidhiram Sardar (1976).  

His swan song as a director was the F.C. Mehra-backed Hindi drama Lal Patthar, a remake of his 1964 Bengali film with Uttam Kumar and Supriya Devi.  

Majumdar had collaborated with Uttam Kumar on at least nine films, including Nidhiram Shordar, Dui Prithibi (1980), Moner Mayur (1954) and Shuk Sari (1969). 

Mishra recalled that Majumdar was very close to stars like Kumar, Vinod Khanna and Raaj Kumar. According to Mishra, one of the reasons Majumdar slipped through the cracks of history is the absence of a proper archival culture in Bengal — and a lack of institutional recognition. 

Despite his documentary’s international win, Mishra is still struggling to secure an OTT release, as platforms cite a lack of viewer interest in such content. 

He also continues to campaign for the renaming of the Kolkata lane where Majumdar lived from the 1950s until his death in 1988. Mishra believes it is high time the city honoured an icon.  

Mishra’s personal favourite among his grandfather’s works is Jogajog (1943) — a “beautiful musical comedy” as he calls it. Majumdar, on the other hand, had himself confided in the late Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee that his favourite was Digbhranta (1950). 

A pioneer, a patriot, and a once towering figure in popular Bengali cinema — his story deserves a larger audience.