Bijon Das Gupta (Bijon) is an Art Director of Indian Film Industry. He is born on April 30, 1951. He made his debut with 1983 Hindi film, Masoom. His other noted works include Hum Aapke hain Koun, Dil, Umrao Jaan, Mr India, Dhadkan, Maine Pyar Kiya etc. Bijon won Filmfare Best Art Direction Award for Prem in 1996.
Bijon Das Gupta is a renowned art director who was associated with many Rajshri films of Barjatya’s. He was born on April 30, 1951, in Bangalore. As a veteran production designer, he was roped in to create massive sets in 'Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!' (1994), and this movie was a blockbuster. People still remember the visual sets that had a family set up. Remember those melodious songs from Hum Aapke Koun? This movie was a trendsetter and viewers understood the creative vision that was required for song-dance sequences, wedding scenes etc. Even the outdoor locales were designed in such a way that Rajshri could retain its unique visual identity as a family entertainer. But his first recognition as an art director came with Shekhar Kapur's Masoom where he made his debut as an independent art director.
This film gave him wide recognition. But he had always been very choosy in scripts and worked in movies like Gupt, Dil, Umrao Jaan, Mr. India and a few others. Masoom, the first film itself gave him the recognition and respect that he now enjoys within the industry. As an art director, he got Filmfare award for his work in Boney Kapoor ’Prem’ that had Tabu and Sanjay Kapoor in lead roles. He did later choose only a few selected films as an art director, and that includes even Parwana, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, and Garv - Pride and Honour. His association in an Indian unit for Michael Winterbottom’s movie ‘A Mighty Heart’ which featured , Dan Futterman, and Irrfan Khan gave him a wide acclaim. In earlier days of his career, he has worked as an assistant to Baba Azmi, , Prakash Mehra, Ashok Mehta, M.S. Sathyu, Pravin Bhatt, Baba Azmi, etc.
Although Bijoy had seen his first movie which was Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’, but he was inspired to take up his career as production designer with M. S. Sathyu in a lot of Russian and Indo-Russian films. Soon he wanted to join FTII, Pune but could not enroll himself. Later, after getting a recommendation from M.S. Sathyu, he got a job as a scenic designer in Bombay Doordarshan. Later on, he was elevated to art director in Bombay Doordarshan where he worked in a payroll as a permanent employee and served Doordarshan for nine years. While he was in Bombay, he stayed in actress Shabana Azmi's house and came across prominent film personalities such as Baba Azmi, Sardar Zafari, and Muzaffar Ali. While he was on television, he associated himself with ad films. His first ad film was for ‘Amul.’ Later on, he received offers to do many ad films with Shyam Benegal, Deven Khote, Zafar Ali and Kailash Surendranath etc. He was also associated with Mexican director Alejandro Jodorowsky for movie ‘Task’ and another notable movie of Michael Winterbottom that had Angelina Jolie in lead role. Of late, as computer technology has become part of art direction, Bijon Das Gupta stays away from art direction.
