Radhu Karmakar

The film won Filmfare Award for Best Film while Karmakar won a nomination for Best Director Award at the 9th Filmfare Awards. At the 8th National Film Awards the film also won Certificate of Merit in the Best Feature Film in Hindi category. At the 18th National Film Awards, he won the award for National Film Award for Best Cinematography for Mera Naam Joker. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Cinematographer four times: Shree 420 (1957), Mera Naam Joker (1972), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1979), and Henna (1992).

Karmakar start his film career in Calcutta with Kismat ki Dhani (1945) followed by Milan (1946) directed by Nitin Bose for Bombay Talkies. Though the film didn't perform well at box office, his night sequence photography and high contrast lighting got him acclaim. Soon he was chosen to shoot Raj Kapoor's Awaara (1951). This started a career long association lasting four decades, working on films, such as Shree 420 (1955), Sangam (1964), Mera Naam Joker (1970), Bobby (1973), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978), Prem Rog (1982), and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985). After Raj Kapoor's death in 1988, he continued working with R. K. Studio and shot Henna (1991), a project he started shooting and which was later completed by his son Randhir Kapoor.

Born in Bikrampur, now in Munshiganj District, near present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh in a Bengali Karmakar family of goldsmiths, the profession which did not interest him much apart from his photography. Karmakar married Baani Rai, the daughter of businessman Brojendrolal Rai, and moved to Calcutta. Baani Karmakar was the youngest among her seven siblings. Radhu Karmakar and his family resided in Calcutta until 1951 when he started working with Raj Kapoor in his film Awaara (1951). He worked initially on director Nitin Bose's Milan (1946) soon after Kismat ki Dhani (1945). Raj Kapoor found Karmakar's work commendable when he saw his night sequence photography and high contrast lighting in Milan (1946). Karmakar's family soon moved to Bombay.

Wife - Late Mrs Baani Karmakar Sons - Krishna Gopal Karmakar and Brojo Gopal Karmakar Daughters - Sudevi Karmakar, Radha Banerjee, Meera Choudhuri Grandchildren - Shomita Pandey, Rinky Karmakar, Siddharth Karmakar, Shubhankar Banerjee, Gaurang Karmakar, Anuradha Karmakar, Priyanka Choudhuri, Keshub Karmakar, Rudraraj Karmakar Great grand daughter- Dr.Tushita Pandey

Karmakar died in a car accident on the Bombay Pune Road while driving back to Bombay. He died on 5 October 1993. At the 42nd National Film Awards of 1995, he was posthumously given a Special Jury Award for Param Vir Chakra and "In appreciation of a lifetime achievement in creating some of the most memorable moments in Indian film history." His autobiography, Radhu Karmakar: The Painter of Lights, was published posthumously in 2005.

• Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960)

• Kismat Ki Dhani (1945) • Jwar Bhata (1944) • Milan (1946) • Naukadubi (1947) • Mashal (1950) • Samar (1950) • Awaara (1951) • Jagte Raho (1956) • Shree 420 (1955) • Sangam (1964) • Aman (1967) • Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968) • Mera Naam Joker (1970) • Be-Imaan (1972) • Bobby (1973) • Sanyasi (1975) • Dhoop Chhaon (1977) • Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) • Love Story (1981) • Prem Rog (1982) • Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) • Adventures of Tarzan (1985) • Dance Dance (1987) • Commando (1988) • Henna (1991) • Param Vir Chakra (1995)

Radhu Karmakar is recorded with the occupation cinematographer. Recorded as photographer, cinematographer and film director.