Pramod Chakravorty was among the first to cast Akshay Kumar as a hero, in Deedar (1992), and though the film did not fare well, the star never forgot the veteran's gesture. Born in Dhaka (now in Bangladesh), Chakkida, as Pramod Chakravorty was popularly known, had run away from home at 17 and arrived in Bombay with the dream of making movies. He had to struggle to find a foothold in the industry and even lived on the streets and took up odd jobs. Pramod Chakravorty eventually assisted Raj Khosla on Milap (1955) and C.I.D. (1956) before making his directorial debut with 12 O’Clock (1958) starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman. The film is a crime thriller about a woman who gets framed for her cousin’s murder. She is helped by her lawyer lover who does everything he can to prove her innocence. Produced by GP Sippy and shot by VK Murthy, the film also starred Rehman and Johnny Walker.

In 1964, Pramod Chakravorty launched his own banner, Pramod Films, with Ziddi (1964), a breezy romance between a vagabond poet (Joy Mukherjee) and a rich brat (Asha Parekh). It was a typical 1960s potboiler that met with instant success. He repeated the cast in Love in Tokyo (1966), written by Sachin Bhowmick and shot extensively in Japan. Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai (1969) starred Shammi Kapoor and Babita along with an ensemble cast including Mehmood and Lalita Pawar in a double role.

In the 1970s, Pramod Chakravorty made a series of films with Dharmendra, the most successful of them being Naya Zamana (1971), which was influenced by Pyaasa (1957), where a bitter young writer’s work is hijacked by the villainous Rajan (Pran). But his Jugnu (1973), about a golden-hearted thief (Dharmendra) trying to woo Hema Malini and fight the villain Pran, was a bigger hit. A few years later, the filmmaker directed Dream Girl (1977), which gave Hema Malini the famous tag.

Pramod Chakravorty worked with most of the reigning stars of the time, including Amitabh Bachchan in Nastik (1973), Jeetendra in Jyoti (1981) and Rajesh Khanna in Shatru (1986). His last film was Barood (1998) starring Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon.

Pramod Chakravorty passed away on 12 December 2004.