Udayer Pathe, Bimal Roy’s first film, revolutionized Indian cinema. Hailed as a pioneer by Satyajit Ray, he was perhaps the first to bring shades of grey to the black-and-white screen. Roy’s spare storytelling and nuanced understanding of the human condition are reflected in classics like Devdas, Sujata and Madhumati. His ability to illuminate ordinary characters like Shambhu in Do Bigha Zamin and Kalyani in Bandini, is attested to by their being a part of popular memory even to this day. The Man Who Spoke in Pictures is not just a eulogy to this great director, but also an insight into Roy, the man, the director and his art. The auteur’s little-known Bengal phase is chronicled by Mahasweta Devi and Amit Chaudhuri, as well as Tapan Sinha, Amit Bose and other greats of cinema who trace his journey from cinematographer to director. His Bombay years are recorded through a collection of analyses and anecdotes from leading literary and cinematic luminaries, including Nayantara Sahgal, Gulzar, Naseeruddin Shah and Khalid Mohammed. The final section examines Roy from the outsider’s perspective, with articles by Meghnad Desai, Rachel Dwyer and Paula Mayhew.

An analysis of Bimal Roy’s films and their depiction of people outside the ‘mainstream’ The Cinema of Bimal Roy: An ‘Outsider’ Within examines Roy’s adaptations of Bengali and Hindi literary classics while dwelling on his approach and treatment of women, a focal point of many of his films. It draws attention to his cinema of social relevance—untouchability (Sujata), woman deserted by society and family (Biraj Bou), child marriage (Parineeta) and the inhumanity of oppression and forced urbanization (Do Bigha Zameen). The book goes on to discuss Roy’s ability to bestow new screen identities to established actors such as Nutan, Meena Kumari and Dilip Kumar on one hand and discover new talents such as Sunil Dutt, Sadhana and Tarun Bose on the other. Apart from this, his tutelage introduced many new faces to the film industry—Salil Choudhury, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Nabendu Ghosh and Gulzar among others. Further, the book details the aesthetics of technique—cinematography, editing and sound—in Roy’s films; his movies had some of the best musical scores in Hindi cinema. It also analyses what made Madhumati his biggest commercial success.

A cinematic masterpiece, Bimal Roy's Madhumati is an enduring classic, and one of the most enduring legacies bequeathed to the Indian film industry by the black-and-white era. Starring the legendary thespians Dilip Kimar, Vyjayanthimala and Pran, Madhumati combined a heartbreaking saga of love with a convincing, spine-chilling ghost story to create an award-winning hit movie which continues to inspire Bollywood even today. In Bimal Roy's Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes, his daughter, Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, explores how Roy's biggest commercial success was made; revisiting shoot locations, meeting people who were involved in its making, building on reminiscences, media reports, interviews and, most importantly, the memories of the three stars-Dilip Kumar, Vyjayantimala and Pran. With a tribute by Amitabh Bachchan, a foreword by Vyjayanthimala and exclusive on-location photographs, this book is a must-have, both for fans of this iconic film and for those interested in the history of the Indian film industry.

Contributed write-ups on the works of an Indian film-maker, put together by his daughter, who also wrote three of the chapters

This book is based on the iconic actor Dharmendra Ji and all his accomplishments and his journey. This book highlights his beginning, struggle, success, barriers and all his movies and all actors he worked with. Here the reader will embark on a pictorial journey of his life.

Devdas is the title of a 1920s novella by the farmed Bengali writer saratchandra chatterjee. It became so popular that 15 film versions were made in various Indian Languages and periods. Bimal Roy's 1955 film is considered the finest as it sensitively tells the tragic love story between Devdas (Dilip Kumar), the son of Brahmin landlord Aand Parvati (suchita sen) his childhood sweetheart. Caste and class difference keep the lovers apart. Parvati is married of to a rich older man and devdas, who allows Chandramukhi (Vijayanthimala), a selfless prostitute, to help him at first, but ultimately finding no meaning to life, he takes to drink. The Dialogue of Devdas will be presented in a four language format: Hindi, Urdu, Romanised Hindi, Urdu and English translation. Forewords by Bimal Roy's Family and extensive commentary are also featured.