- Anik Dutta died after falling from his wife's residence terrace in Kolkata
- He was the grandson of United Bank of India founder Narendra Chandra Dutta
- Dutta debuted with Bhooter Bhabishyat in 2012, a political satire film
Noted Bengali filmmaker Anik Dutta died on Wednesday afternoon at a private hospital in South Kolkata, his family confirmed. He had fallen from the terrace of his wife's residence near Gariahat in South Kolkata.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition with multiple injuries but later succumbed to them.
Dutta was the grandson of Narendra Chandra Dutta, the founder of United Bank of India. He made his directorial debut in 2012 with the political satire Bhooter Bhabishyat, a film that established him as a bankable director in the Bengali film industry.
Bhooter Bhabishyat is a genre-bending film that amalgamates the socio-economic and political landscape of Bengal over the years with sharp punclines and witty dialogues.
He was also known for directing Aschorjo Prodip (2013), Borunbabur Bondhu (2020) and Aparajito (2022).
Aparajito was a tribute to Satyajit Ray, released on the 101st birth anniversary of the maverick filmmaker.
An ardent admirer of Satyajit Ray, Dutta's most of the films were tributes to Ray's legacy, carrying the imprint of his school of filmmaking.
A Left-leaning filmmaker, Anik Dutta was a staunch critic of the Mamata Banerjee government.
The conflict peaked when Dutta's 2019 film Bhobishyoter Bhoot (a spiritual sequel to his debut) was effectively banned by the West Bengal government.
After marches and protests against the ban, the film's producer, Kalyanmoy Billy Chatterjee, won a Supreme Court order requiring the West Bengal government to pay Rs 20 lakh in compensation. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the state government. “Free speech cannot be gagged for fear of the mob,” the court said.
Dutta's last directorial venture was Joto Kando Kolkatatei (2025), which featured Abir Chatterjee, Quazi Nawshaba Ahmed and Dulal Lahiri in key roles.