The 70, Sarat Bose Road residence of Padma Shri-winning cinematographer Subrata Mitra, who is renowned for his iconic collaborations with Satyajit Ray and James Ivory, was conferred heritage status by the West Bengal Heritage Commission.
The commission installed a blue plaque on Mitra’s residence on 3 July in the presence of dignitaries such as Sandip Ray, Goutam Ghose and Ashoke Viswanathan.
The decision to declare the building where Mitra lived all his life as one of importance was made on 23 January, but the ceremony was postponed due to the state assembly elections. Admirers of Mitra are elated as the move comes on Ray’s birth centenary year.
The blue plaque mentions the global recognition the Apu Trilogy has received as well as the awards bestowed on the cinematographer.
Known for pioneering the technique of bounce lighting, the legendary lensman started his journey with Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (1955) and went on to work on two acclaimed sequels — Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) — and seven other iconic works, Parash Pathar (1958), Jalsaghar (1958), Devi (1960), Kanchenjungha (1962), Mahanagar (1963), Charulata (1964) and Nayak (1966).
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Mitra also shot several projects backed by Merchant Ivory Productions such as The Householder (1963) and Shakespeare Wallah (1965).
In 1985, Mitra was honoured with the National award for his work on Ramesh Sharma's New Delhi Times (1986). The same year, Kodak also honoured him for his lifelong contribution to the field of cinematography. In 1986, he received the Padma Shri.
Mitra served as the professor emeritus of cinematography at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute and died at the age of 70 in 2001.