Bauddhayan Mukherji, aka 'Buddy' (born 1 June 1973), is a National Award-winning (2019) Indian filmmaker based in Mumbai.
He is the co-founder of "Little Lamb Films" along with his wife Monalisa, which has produced three feature films - Teenkahon, The Violin Player and Manikbabur Megh (The Cloud & The Man), besides one documentary short, Kiske Liye (Who Is This Women's Day For?).
His forthcoming films include Marichjhapi and The Bookkeeper's Wife.
Personal life Bauddhayan Mukherji, popularly known as Buddy, is an Indian filmmaker known for his advertising films and indie features. He was born and brought up in Kolkata. His father, Banaj Mukherji, was a poet, while his mother Mira Mukherji, was a school teacher.
At 11, he was gifted a copy of the book "Ekei Bole Shooting" (All About Shooting) written by Satyajit Ray. The book changed his life, and Bauddhayan decided to become a filmmaker.
He studied in South Point School and later St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, where he majored in Economics. Later, he studied at the Clarion College of Communication, eastern India's first advertising college. Bauddhayan lives in Mumbai with his wife Monalisa and daughter Aarsha.
Professional life Bauddhayan Mukherji's work life began with Shyamanand Jalan's Kolkata-based production house Audio Visual Arts, and later he joined Black Magic Motion Pictures, where he joined as the assistant director but rose up the ranks to become a partner of the company. He was part of the team that created Patalghar (The Underground Chamber), the cult Bengali film in 2002.
Today, Bauddhayan runs his own production house called Little Lamb Films, which he founded with his wife Monalisa in 2007 and is considered a path breaker in Indian advertising filmmaking. He has directed more than 400 TVCs and has helped create brands like Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Unilever, Honda, GlaxoSmithKline, Coke, Colgate, Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, and Hyundai Motor Company, to name a few.
In 2010, Bauddhayan directed the Bell Bajao campaign for Breakthrough, which went on to win the prestigious Silver Lion at Cannes – the Oscars of advertising films. He also became the first Indian filmmaker to win two back-to-back One Show merits at New York and Spikes Asia Golds at Singapore. In 2015, the Haathipaon Mukt Bharat (Filaria Free India) campaign for the Sabin Vaccine Institute landed him with another Silver Lion at Cannes Health.
In 2013, Bauddhayan ventured into feature films and over the last few years has directed two of India's most awarded and internationally acclaimed indies under the banner of Little Lamb Films – Teenkahon (2014, Bengali, available on Amazon Prime) & The Violin Player (2016, Hindi, available on Netflix). These films have been screened at more than 85 film festivals across five continents. In 2015, Bauddhayan went on to win the Aravindan Puraskaram, an award by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy for the Best Debutant Director in the country, for Teenkahon. The Violin Player also became the first Indian film ever to be represented by the French Sales Agents, Alpha Violet.
In 2021, Bauddhayan won his first National Award for The Shower - a PSA on the rural-urban water inequality for Unilever, India. The Shower became the first Indian advertisement film to win the National Award. It won the Best Promotional Film in the non-feature film category at the 67th National Film Awards.
Marichjhapi, his next directorial venture for Little Lamb Films, has already created a buzz in the international co-production market when it was chosen to represent India at the prestigious Asian Project Market at Busan 2019 and Cinéfondation L'Atelier at the Cannes Film Festival 2020. One of Bauddhayan's forthcoming directorial projects, The Bookkeeper's Wife, was part of the Co-production Market at Film Bazaar 2020 and the Torino Film Lab NXT, 2021.
Festival circuit Release Film Producer Director Festival Category Accolade Year Ref2023Marichjhapi (feature) Monalisa Mukherji Cannes Film Festival Cinefondation's L'Atelier program Official Selection 2020 Busan International Film Festival Asian Project Market program Official Selection 20192018 Who Is This Women's Day For? (aka Kiske Liye; documentary) Monalisa Mukherji Anatolia International Film Festival 2020 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival Gold Remi 2020 Impact Doc AwardsAward of Excellence 2020Central Michigan International Film Festival Official Selection 2020 Aphrodite Film Awards 20202nd South Asian Short Film Festival Official Selection 2019Beirut International Women Film Festival Official Selection 2019 Audfest Documentary Short Film Festival, 2018 2015The Violin Player (feature) Monalisa Mukherji ImagineIndia International Film Festival Best Actor 2017 Best Cinematography DC Independent Film Festival Official Selection 2017 RapidLion International Film FestivalBest Original Score 2017Best ScreenplayBest CinematographyDurban International Film Festival Best Film Award 2016 Raindance Film FestivalBest Film 2016 Best ScreenplayBest Actor Zurich Film Festival Official Selection 2016 Cork Film Festival Official Selection São Paulo International Film Festival New Directors Competition 2016All Lights India International Film Festival Critics Choice for Best Film 2016 Kolkata International Film FestivalNETPAC award 2016Jio MAMI Film Festival India Gold 2015 International Film Festival of Kerala International competition 2015 2014 Teenkahon (feature) Monalisa Mukherji Festival du Film d'Asie du Sud Transgressif, Paris, FranceStudent Jury for Best Narrative Feature Special Mention DC Independent Film Festival Official Selection 2015Zimbabwe International Film Festival Official Selection 2014Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Aravindan Puraskaram Mumbai Film FestivalIndia Story Official Selection 2014 International Film Festival of India Indian Panorama Official Selection 2014Chennai International Film Festival Pune International Film Festival 2015RapidLion International Film FestivalBest Editing 2016 London Asian Film Festival Official Selection 2016Virginia Film Festival Official Selection 2015Indian Film Festival Stuttgart Official Selection 2015Indian Film Festival Melbourne Official Selection 2015Soho International Film FestivalBest World Showcase 2015North Carolina State's Global Film FestivalBest Actor 2015Seattle South Asian Film Festival Audience Choice Award 2014Bridge Film Festival Best Screenplay Award 2014 Jury Special Mention for Cinematography
References
External links Little Lamb Films website Bauddhayan Mukherji on afaqs