Amit Bose


Amit Bose is an Indian filmmaker, film director and editor, who directed all-time classics like Abhilasha and, as an Editor, worked on movies like Madhumati, Sujata, Parakh, ', Kabuliwala, ', Bandini and Shakespeare Wallah. 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. His mother Meera Devi, who was like a father toBoset. Amit's name was given by Rabindranath Tagore, who was a cousin of Bose's mother in Kolkata.

First steps in filmmaking

As a child Bose was a student in Rabindranath Tagore's open-air institution 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 famous Film Director Nimai Ghosh during the making of Chinna Mul. 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 Studios in Malad, in 1947. He also appeared in a bit-part in Majumdar's film , 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 A.B. Pathé.
In 1953 he directed and performed in Sharat Chandra Chatterji's classic novel, Devdas, as Devdas on stage.
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, Vittorio De Sica and Mario Soldati.

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, Sujata, Parakh, ', Kabuliwala, ' and Bandini, 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, Sulochana, Kamini Kaushal, Dharmendra and Rehman closely.
Abroad he worked in the UK, 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 and many other well known Filmmakers around the world.
He also directed the children's film Five Puppets for the , 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 Chinese invasion of India, produced by the Films Division in Mumbai, that took place in 1961/1962.
His credits include movies like Chori Chori, Godaan, ', Abhilasha, ' , Chandi Sona and The Courtesans of Bombay.
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 De Sica once upon a time told him.
Bose is now retired and lives with his wife Monica in London, UK. In his spare time, he works, 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

Dubbing/Sound EditorYear/CountryProduction Notes
Summer of the Falcon1981/USAKA Lovespell.
Anna Ballerina 1987/GermanyGerman TV series.
'1988/GermanyMovie based on the series.
Young Toscanini1988/Italy/FranceFranco Zeffirelli production.
Milou en mai1990/France/ItalyLouis 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:
DubbingYear/CountryDubbing LanguagesProduction Notes
Diva1981/Italy/FranceFrench/EnglishA film by Jean-Jacques Beineix.
Summer of the Falcon1981/USGerman/English/GermanAKA Lovespell. Featuring Richard Burton.
The Children of Noisy Village1986/SwedenDutch/EnglishWritten by Astrid Lindgren.
A Boy from Calabria1987/Italy/FranceItalian/EnglishA film by Luigi Comencini.
Anna Ballerina 1987/GermanyGerman/English/GermanGerman TV series.
'1988/GermanyGerman/English/GermanMovie based on the series.
Franco Zeffirelli's Young Toscanini1988/Italy/FranceEnglish/Italian/EnglishFeaturing Elizabeth Taylor and Sophie Ward.
Eurocops1988/Spain/Italy/France/Germany/
UK/Austria/Switzerland		English/French/Italian/
Spanish/German		TV series 1988–1993. Featuring Heiner Lauterbach.
'1989/GermanyGerman/EnglishN/A.
'1989/Germany/FranceEnglish/EnglishFeaturing Heiner Lauterbach.
Peter in Magicland1990/GermanyGerman/English/GermanFull length Animation film.
Louis Malle's Milou en mai1990/France/ItalyFrench/EnglishUS Title: May Fools