Birendranath Sircar (also Sarkar; 5 July 1901 – 28 November 1980) was an Indian film producer and the founder of New Theatres Calcutta. He made Bengali-language films that were noted for introducing many film directors who later became famous. He was awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1970 and the third highest civilian award in India, the Padma Bhushan, in 1972.[1]
Early life
B. N. Sircar was born in Bhagalpur to the then Advocate-General of Bengal, Sir N. N. Sircar. He was the grandson of Barrister J.N. Sircar, Esq. and great-grandson of Peary Charan Sarkar, the principal of Hare School, Calcutta. After completing his study at Hindu School, Kolkata, he studied Engineering at the University of London[citation needed] and on returning to India he was asked to build a cinema. The project caused him to develop a keen interest in film and he proceeded to build a cinema for the screening of Bengali-language films. Called Chitra, this was opened in Calcutta by Subhas Chandra Bose on 30 December 1930 and was followed by the construction of New Cinema, which showed Hindi films.[2] He then decided to involve himself in making of two silent films.[citation needed]
^Mukherjee, Partha, Priyanka. "New Awakening". harmonyindia.org. harmonyindia.org. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
