Mrinal Sen

Mrinal Sen was a renowned Indian filmmaker who was one of the pioneers of the parallel cinema movement in India. He was influenced by the works of Italian neorealists and his contemporary Satyajit Ray. He used a range of aesthetic styles to explore the social and political realities of his homeland, especially the issues of poverty, corruption, oppression, and gender discrimination. He was also a self-described "private Marxist" who expressed his views through his films. He made more than 30 feature films in Bengali, Hindi, Telugu, and Oriya languages, and won various national and international awards, including the Padma Bhushan, the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Order of Friendship, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He was also nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha and served from 1997 to 2003. Some of his notable films include Bhuvan Shome, Calcutta 71, Akaler Sandhane, Kharij, Ek Din Achanak, and Antareen. He died on 30 December 2018 at the age of 95 from cardiac arrest. He was given a state funeral and a three-day state mourning was declared in his honor. He is survived by his wife and son.