Pramod Chakravorty was never counted among the great Bengali directors of Hindi cinema like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Bimal Roy, Asit Sen, Shakti Samanta, or Satyen Bose.
Yet, he was arguably more box-office-friendly than any of the names mentioned. Beginning with the suspense thriller 12 O’Clock, starring none other than Guru Dutt, Chakravorty went on to direct blockbusters such as Love in Tokyo (1966), Jugnu (1973), and Warrant (1975).
Dharmendra remembers Pramod Chakravorty, ‘One of the most underrated directors I worked with’Veteran actor Dharmendra, who worked with the filmmaker in as many as five popular films, believes Chakravorty was highly underrated. ‘He cast me and Hema repeatedly in his films, a lot of them with us together. He also cast Hema with Amitabh in one film (Nastik), and I worked in a Bengali-Hindi film with Pramod (Jagir), which had Zeenat opposite me. My first film with Pramod was Naya Zamana, which I consider among my best films alongside Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Satyakam and Dulal Guha’s Pratiggya.’
Speaking fondly about Naya Zamana, Dharmendra added, ‘It was based on a celebrated Bengali film (Udayer Pathey), and it spoke about social reform. The music was a highlight. My next film with Pramod, again co-starring Hema, Jugnu, was one of the biggest hits of my career. That too had very successful music by Sachin Dev Burman. Subsequently, we worked together in other films (Azaad, Dream Girl, Jagir), which were not as successful as Jugnu or Naya Zamana. But his versatility and storytelling skills are unquestionable.’
When asked if he felt like a favourite of Bengali filmmakers, Dharmendra smiled and agreed. ‘I felt like a Bengali working with so many great Bengali directors: Bimal Roy, Asit Sen, Dulal Guha, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Pramod Chakravorty… I was also going to play Devdas in Gulzar’s film with Hema and Sharmila as Paro and Chandramukhi. But that was shelved.’