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{{Short description|Indian filmmaker (1930–2019)}}
{{for|another person|Amit Bose (government official)}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2008}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Amit Bose
| native_name =
| image = Amit Bose.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|2|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Jamshedpur]], [[Bihar]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2019|12|13|1930|2|26}}
| mother = Meera Devi
| alma_mater = [[Visva-Bharati University]]
| occupation = filmmaker
| spouse = Monica
}}
'''Amit Bose''' (26 February 1930 – 13 December 2019) was an Indian filmmaker, film director and editor, who directed all-time classics like ''[[Abhilasha (1968 film)|Abhilasha]]'' (1968) and, as an Editor, worked on movies like ''[[Madhumati]]'' (1958), ''[[Sujata (1959 film)|Sujata]]'' (1959), ''[[Parakh (1960 film)|Parakh]]'' (1960), ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054430/ Usne Kaha Tha]'' (1960), ''[[Kabuliwala (1961 film)|Kabuliwala]]'' (1961), ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056367/ Prem Patra]'' (1962), ''[[Bandini (1963 film)|Bandini]]'' (1963) and ''[[Shakespeare Wallah]]'' (1965). He worked as Chief Film Editor for [[Bimal Roy]] and with several other directors including [[Sanjay Khan]].

== Early life ==
Bose was born in [[Jamshedpur]]/[[Bihar]], India. His grandfather was the geologist [[Pramatha Nath Bose]], who discovered rich iron ores, that made the Empire of [[J.R.D. Tata]] possible, which today belong to the [[Tata Group]]. Eminent economic historian and civil servant [[Romesh Chunder Dutt]] was his great grandfather. Dutt's daughter Kamala Dutt Bose, a renowned educator who founded the "Kamala Girls School" at [[Ballygunge]] was married to Pramatha Nath Bose and was his grandmother. His mother Meera Devi (born Sharma) was a Bengali actress. After her first marriage ended in divorce, she married the classical singer and actor [[Pahari Sanyal]]), who was like a father to Bose. Amit's name was given by [[Rabindranath Tagore]], who was a cousin of Bose's mother in [[Kolkata]].

== First steps in filmmaking ==
[[File:Amit Bose - Vittorio De Sica - Il Tetto - Rome - 1954-55.jpg|thumb|Bose with Vittorio De Sica on the set of "Il Tetto" ("The Roof") in Rome (1954/55).]]

As a child Bose was a student in [[Rabindranath Tagore]]'s open-air institution [[Visva-Bharati University|Visva Bharati]] in [[Bolpur]], [[Santiniketan]]. As a young man he took his first steps in the film industry in 1946 in [[Kolkata]]. He worked as an assistant to the film director Nimai Ghosh during the making of ''Chinna Mul'' (''"Broken Branch"'' - a movie reflecting the up-rooting of the nation during the Great Famine). This film won several awards, both in India and abroad. It is still hailed as one of the great classics of Indian Cinema. Bose then went to [[Mumbai]] and worked as an assistant to the Director [[Phani Majumdar]] at [[Bombay Talkies|Bombay Talkies Studios]] in [[Malad]], in 1947. He also appeared in a bit-part in Majumdar's film ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139635/ Tamasha]'', which starred the Great Indian Screen Heroine of all time, [[Meena Kumari]].

In 1952, Bose went to England, where he did an apprenticeship at [[Pinewood Studios]] and [[Pathé|A.B. Pathé]].

In 1953 he directed and performed in [[Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay|Sharat Chandra Chatterji's]] classic novel, ''[[Devdas]]'', as Devdas on stage (in English, translated by Monica Sen).

During the next few years he did his diploma in film direction, screenplay writing and film editing at [[Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia]] in [[Rome]], Italy. During that period in Rome he also was an apprentice assistant to [[Luigi Zampa]] (during the making of ''[[Girls of Today (1955 film)|Ragazze d'oggi]]'' / ''"Girls of Today"'', 1955), [[Vittorio De Sica]] (''[[Terminal Station (film)|Stazione Termini]]'' / ''"Terminal Station"'', 1953 & ''[[Il Tetto]]'' / ''"The Roof"'', 1956) and [[Mario Soldati]] (''[[War and Peace (1956 film)|Guerra e Pace]]'' / ''"War And Peace"'', 1956).

== Life and work ==
On his return to India, and after his marriage in Kolkata in September 1957, Bose settled in [[Mumbai]], where he worked as the Chief Film Editor for [[Bimal Roy]]. He edited films like ''[[Madhumati]]'' (1958, the shorter English version for entry to the American [[Academy Award|Oscars]]), ''[[Sujata (1959 film)|Sujata]]'' (1959), ''[[Parakh (1960 film)|Parakh]]'' (1960), ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054430/ Usne Kaha Tha]'' (1960), ''[[Kabuliwala (1961 film)|Kabuliwala]]'' (1961), ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056367/ Prem Patra]'' (1962) and ''[[Bandini (1963 film)|Bandini]]'' (1963), which he left before completion, because of an opportunity to direct a Children's Film, for which he was awarded the Best Director Award in the same year.

In India, he worked with directors from [[Bimal Roy]] to [[Sanjay Khan]], [[Krishna Shah]], Firoze Khan, Kewal Kashyap and many others, knowing actors like [[Sunil Dutt]], [[Nutan]], [[Sadhana]], [[Meena Kumari]], [[Shashi Kapoor]], [[Raaj Kumar]], [[Felicity Kendal]], [[Rex Harrison]], [[John Saxon]], [[Ruby Myers|Sulochana]], [[Kamini Kaushal]], [[Dharmendra]] and [[Rehman (actor)|Rehman]] closely.

Abroad he worked in the [[United Kingdom]], [[United States]], [[Italy]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Cyprus]], [[Mauritius]] and [[Lebanon]], amongst many other countries. He directed and/or edited more than thirty feature films around the world, working with such prestigious directors as [[Vittorio De Sica]], [[Luigi Zampa]], [[Franco Zeffirelli]], [[Louis Malle]], [[James Ivory (director)|James Ivory]] and many other well known Filmmakers around the world.

He also directed the children's film ''Five Puppets (Panch Puthliyan)'' for the [http://www.cfsindia.org/ Children's Film Society India], for which he was awarded best Director by the President of India, [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]], in 1964.

Among many other feature films, Bose edited a documentary on the [[China|Chinese]] invasion of [[India]], produced by the Films Division in [[Mumbai]], that took place in 1961/1962.

His credits include movies like ''[[Chori Chori (1956 film)|Chori Chori]]'' (1956), ''[[Godaan]]'' (1963), ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139398/ Kaajal]'' (1965, as Ghost Director and Editor, winner of over 40 awards), ''[[Abhilasha (1968 film)|Abhilasha]]'' (1968), ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120927124429/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/139123 At Five Past Five]'' (1969) (a play about the assassination of [[Mahatma Gandhi]]), ''[[Chandi Sona]]'' (1977) and ''[[The Courtesans of Bombay]]'' (1983).

Bose taught film technology in the Film Institute in [[Pune]], [[India]]. He introduced and helped many unknown actors to stardom and more than 20 editors, from assistantship to full editorship. He helped young talents grow, by telling them all his secrets, as [[Vittorio De Sica|De Sica]] once upon a time told him.

Bose was retired and lived with his wife Monica in [[London]], [[United Kingdom]]. In his spare time, he worked, as a volunteer, at the local Association for the Blind. His daughters Roma and Papri-Tara are settled with their families in [[Germany]] and [[England]]. He has five grandchildren, including television producer [[Simone Thorogood]].

== Selected works ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Picture/Sound/Music Editor
! Year/Country
! Production Notes
|-
| ''[[Shakespeare Wallah]]''
| 1965/US
| [[Merchant Ivory Productions|Merchant Ivory Production]], that won acclaim all over [[Europe]] and [[United States|America]].
|-
| ''[[Shalimar (1978 film)|Shalimar]]''
| 1978/India/US
| Directed by [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0787452/ Krishna Shah].
|-
| ''[[Cinema Cinema]]''
| 1979/India
| Directed by [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0787452/ Krishna Shah].
|-
| ''In Search of God''
| 1981/[[Cyprus]]
| Directed by [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0409514/ Evangelos Ioannidis].
|-
| ''Gathering Storm''
| 1982/UK
| [[Channel 4]] production.
|-
| ''[[The Courtesans of Bombay]]''
| 1983/UK
| [[Merchant Ivory Productions|Merchant Ivory TV-Production]].
|-
| ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088706/ American Drive-In]''
| 1985/US
| Directed by [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0787452/ Krishna Shah].
|-
| ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120208163837/http://www.citwf.com/film77245.htm Dabbawallahs]''
| 1985/UK
| [[Channel 4]] production.
|-
| ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258988/ Street Musicians Of Bombay]''
| 1994/UK
| [[Merchant Ivory Productions|Merchant Ivory Production]].
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Dubbing/Sound Editor
! Year/Country
! Production Notes
|-
| ''[[Lovespell|Summer of the Falcon]]''
| 1981/US
| AKA ''Lovespell''.
|-
| ''[[Anna (German TV series)|Anna Ballerina (Series)]]''
| 1987/Germany
| German TV series.
|-
| ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094661/ Anna Ballerina (Movie)]''
| 1988/Germany
| Movie based on the series.
|-
| ''[[Young Toscanini]]''
| 1988/Italy/France
| [[Franco Zeffirelli]] production.
|-
| ''[[May Fools|Milou en mai]]''
| 1990/France/Italy
| [[Louis Malle]] production.
|}

Bose was specialized in dubbing films from different languages to English and vice versa. To name a few, the following is a short list:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Dubbing
! Year/Country
! Dubbing Languages
! Production Notes
|-
| ''[[Diva (1981 film)|Diva]]''
| 1981/Italy/France
| French/English
| A film by [[Jean-Jacques Beineix]].
|-
| ''[[Lovespell|Summer of the Falcon]]''
| 1981/US
| German/English/German
| AKA ''Lovespell''. Featuring [[Richard Burton]].
|-
| ''[[The Children of Noisy Village (film)|The Children of Noisy Village]]''
| 1986/Sweden
| Dutch/English
| Written by [[Astrid Lindgren]].
|-
| ''[[A Boy from Calabria]]''
| 1987/Italy/France
| Italian/English
| A film by [[Luigi Comencini]].
|-
| ''[[Anna (German TV series)|Anna Ballerina (Series)]]''
| 1987/Germany
| German/English/German
| German TV series.
|-
| ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094661/ Anna Ballerina (Movie)]''
| 1988/Germany
| German/English/German
| Movie based on the series.
|-
| ''[[Young Toscanini|Franco Zeffirelli's Young Toscanini]]''
| 1988/Italy/France
| English/Italian/English
| Featuring [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and [[Sophie Ward]].
|-
| ''[[Eurocops]]''
| 1988/Spain/Italy/France/Germany/<br />UK/Austria/Switzerland
| English/French/Italian/<br />Spanish/German
| TV series 1988–1993. Featuring [[Heiner Lauterbach]].
|-
| ''[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098181/ The Year Of The Black Butterflies]''
| 1989/Germany
| German/English
| N/A.
|-
| ''{{ill|African Timber (film)|de|3=African Timber|lt=African Timber}}''
| 1989/Germany/France
| English/English
| Featuring [[Heiner Lauterbach]].
|-
| ''[[Peter in Magicland]]''
| 1990/Germany
| German/English/German
| Full length Animation film.
|-
| ''[[May Fools|Louis Malle's Milou en mai]]''
| 1990/France/Italy
| French/English
| US Title: ''May Fools''
|}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|97859}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120208163828/http://www.citwf.com/person483649.htm Amit Bose] at CITWF (Complete Index to World Film).

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bose, Amit}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Film directors from Bihar]]
[[Category:Bengali film directors]]
[[Category:Hindi film editors]]
[[Category:Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni]]
[[Category:Visva-Bharati University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Jamshedpur]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Film editors from Bihar]]
[[Category:Directors who won the Best Children's Film National Film Award]]

Amit Bose - Revision history

Himanshuucharan at 05:24, 6 February 2026