Drisha Acharya, who is in the news after her wedding to Karan Deol, Sunny Deol’s son is the great-granddaughter of Bimal Roy an Indian film director. Drisha’s wedding to Karan is a typical East meets West story, not that this is the first such wedding in Bollywood. Earlier, Ajay Devgn, a Punjabi married Kajol who has her roots in Bengal among others.

Bimal Roy was particularly known for his realistic and socialistic films. He was a significant Hindi film director thanks to films like Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Devdas, Madhumati, Sujata, Parakh, and Bandini.

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Bimal Roy’s early life

Bimal Roy was born on 12 July 1909 into an old landholding
family in former East Bengal, (Bangladesh). Roy was kicked
out of the Zamindari by the estate manager after his father’s death. Young, penniless, he relocated to Calcutta with his widowed mother and infant brothers.

Bimal Roy’s career

Bimal Roy began his career as an assistant cameraman at the
well-known New Theatres, Calcutta. He received numerous
awards for his excellent lighting and composition skills.

In 1952–1953, his first Hindi film “Do Bigha Zamin,” which
poignantly captured the suffering of the exiled peasantry,
had a profoundly influential effect on people all over the
world because of its humane portrayal. The film’s simple yet
heart-breaking tale of a farmer fighting to defend his land
from a greedy landlord was told in masterful cinematic
language. The movie was regarded as a milestone and one of
the top 10 Indian films of all time, holds the rare distinction
of being one of the first Indian films to receive honours or awards in so many nations, including China, the UK, Karlovy
Vary, Cannes, the USSR, Venice, and Melbourne.
Beginning with Do Bigha Zamin in 1953, he was the only
director to hold the distinction of winning 11 Filmfare Awards
for Best Direction or Best Film.

Sarat Chandra, a renowned novelist, was immortalised by
Bimal Roy by drawing inspiration from several of the latters classics, including “Parineeta”, “Devdas,” “Sujata”, etc which found powerful expression in his films.

Bimal’s movies featured progressive thinking, challenged
brutal exploitation and exhibited the inherent strength of
women. He had a distinctive musical sense, realistic and
a sensitive portrayal of social conflicts, a storytelling technique
and presenting lifelike characters.

Bimal Roy, the doyen of Indian cinema, tragically passed
away at the age of 55 leaving behind an unmatched
unequalled cinematic legacy that is India’s proud National
heritage. That Drisha is his great grand-daughter made him the buzzword of Bollywood since the day the Karan-Drisha marriage was announced.