Anjan Dutta (Bengali: অঞ্জন দত্ত) is an Indian film director, actor, and singer-songwriter known for his work in the Bengali alternative music genre anyodharar gaan (অন্যধারার গান). As an actor, Dutta began his career in Bengali cinema in the Mrinal Sen film Chaalchitra, for which he won the best newcomer actor award at the Venice Film Festival. He acted in Aparna Sen's hit film, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. In 2018 he featured in Swapnasandhani's new play Taraye Taraye, as Vincent van Gogh, under the direction of Kaushik Sen.

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Anjan Dutt
Dutt performing in 2006
Background information
Born	(1953-01-19) 19 January 1953 (age 71)[1]
Genres	Pop[2] urban folk
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter actor film director theatre personality
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar
Years active	1981–present
Labels	RPG, Sagarika Musics Pvt Ltd.
Children	Neel Dutt[3]

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He is also a national award-winning filmmaker and is one of the most prominent directors of Bengali cinema, directing Dutta Vs Dutta, Madly Bangalee, The Bong Connection, Chalo Let's Go, and Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona. In recent years, he has directed a Byomkesh film series.

Anjan Dutta was raised in the mountains of North Bengal. He had his schooling from St. Paul's School in Darjeeling.^[4]

In the late seventies, he joined a group called Open Theatre and in the early eighties performed plays translated from the works of renowned foreign playwrights like Sartre, Peter Weiss, Jean Genet and Bertold Brecht. The group clearly drew inspiration from Nandikar, a highly active and already famous theatre group at the time. Due to politically sensitive content, they faced many obstructions in producing and performing their work, and eventually, the group discontinued its repertoire.

Dutta was first selected for the feature film Chalachitro, directed by renowned filmmaker Mrinal Sen. The film and his performance were critically acclaimed at the Venice Film Festival, but for unknown reasons, was never released commercially. Dutt said that he was more interested in doing art cinema than commercial mainstream cinema. After doing a few art films that were not so commercially successful, including the critically well-received Juganto, scarcity of job opportunities forced him to take up jobs in advertising and later as a journalist for the Kolkata-based daily, The Statesman.

At that time, Dutta was greatly influenced by the music of Bob Dylan, Kabir Suman who had heralded a new era in Bengali music through his songs. These songs and lyrics, commonly referred to as Jeebonmukhi (জীবনমুখী )(literally meaning "towards life"), were concerned with the tough reality of Bengali middle-class social life, in and around Kolkata.

Anjan Dutt is married to Chanda Dutt. They have a son together- Neel Dutt, who is a music director in the Indian industry.

• 1981 – Best Actor award for film Chaalchitra at Venice Film Festival
• 1981 – Venice Film Festival for Chaalchitra.

• Alitalia Award [Winner] (1981)
• Best Actor Tied with Rodolfo Bigotti for Bosco d'amore (1981)

For chalchitra akhon.

• Bong Connection was screened at Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 2005.

• 2012 – National Film Award – Special Jury Award for Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona^{[citation needed]}

• 2019 – Best lyrics for Finally Bhalobasha at WBFJA for Nominated.

• 2023 - Special jurry Mention award winner at Kolkata International Film Festival for Chalchitra Akhon.

• 2024 -Best Actor Award Winner at 22nd Dhaka International Film Festival 2024 for Chalchitra akhon.

• Neel Dutt