Shiboprosad Mukherjee (pronounced [ʃiboprosad̪ mukʰärdʒi], Bengali: ; born 20 May 1974) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, producer and actor who works primarily in Bengali cinema. He made his directorial debut with Icche (2011), co-directed with Nandita Roy. Since then, the duo have co-written and co-directed films including Muktodhara (2012), Alik Sukh (2013), Ramdhanu (2014), Belaseshe (2015), Praktan (2016), Posto (2017), Haami (2018), Konttho (2019), Belashuru (2022), Raktabeej (2023) and Bohurupi (2024). He is also a partner at Windows Production, which he co-founded with Roy in 2002.
Alik Sukh premiered at the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival. Films such as Belaseshe, Praktan and Bohurupi emerged among the highest-grossing Bengali films of their respective years. In addition to directing, Mukherjee has appeared as an actor in several of his own films, including Haami, Bohurupi and Aamar Boss.
Mukherjee's films have been recognized for their educational and cultural significance. Icche was accepted into the National Film Archive of India for cultural and educational purposes. Icche, Muktodhara and Ramdhanu were included in the B.Ed. curriculum of Visva-Bharati University. While Icche and Muktodhara have been used in the Certificate Course on Legal and Psychological Counselling for Women in Distress.
Shiboprosad Mukherjee was born on 20 May 1974 at Baranagar in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He was born to an academician father and homemaker mother, and was the youngest among his four siblings. Initially, he was named Mongolprosad by his father. But his mother rearranged his name, owing to the possibility of him being referred to as "Mongla" by the neighbours.
Mukherjee did his early education from Baranagore Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama High School, where he studied till fifth grade. He completed his high school from the Hindu School in Kolkata. His formative years involved co-curricular activities, acting and elocution. He earned him first income by playing "khep" cricket, with which he bought his mother a sari. He pursued his BA and MA in Political Science from Jadavpur University.
Early 1990s–2001: Early career and television
While graduating, Mukherjee joined the theatre group Nandikar along with his friend Sujan Neel Mukherjee. Shiboprosad was trained under the guidance of Rudraprasad Sengupta and Swatilekha Sengupta. He received guidance from Rituporno Ghosh while working as a freelance journalist for Anandalok. In 1995, he made his television debut with a small role in Ekushe Pa. Directed by Raja Dasgupta, the soap opera was aired on Zee Bangla. Later he worked in other daily soaps including Janmabhoomi and Ghoom Nei. He made his large screen debut with Jamai No. 1 (1998) directed by Nitish Roy. He was cast in the lead of the film, after Nandita Roy noticed his performance in Ekushe Pa and suggested her husband cast him.
Nandita Roy was appointed as the first Creative Head and Programming Manager at ETV Bangla and worked there till 2007. After Mukherjee teamed-up with Roy, he was appointed as the senior programming associate at ETV Bangla and worked there from 1999 to 2007. Together, they played a significant role in establishing the network in West Bengal. Till 2002, they created 19 original non-fiction programs for ETV Bangla, including Sreemoti, the first Bengali women's magazine program, and Ebong Rituparno, a celebrity chat show hosted by Rituparno Ghosh. They also created 14 one-hour television films for streaming on ETV Bangla.
2002-2014: Windows Production and directorial debut
In 2002, Mukherjee and Roy co-founded Windows Production, and they started producing multiple television programmes for ETV Bangla, besides conceptualizing and directing them. In 2003, he acted in the biographical documentary Ekti Nadir Naam. By 2007, they were working on 14 TV shows for ETV Bangla at the same time, but quit abruptly to focus on filmmaking. By 2008, they had conceived their first script Icche and were pitching their script to different production houses until Rituparno Ghosh agreed to produce Icche (2011).
After making their directorial debut with Icche, Mukherjee and Roy directed Hello Memsaheb. It was followed by Muktodhara (2012), a social drama which won the Anandalok Award for Best Film. They subsequently directed Accident (2012), a thriller inspired by the aftermaths of a fatal real life road accident. It was selected for screening under the Indian Cinema Now section at the 18th International Kerala Film Festival in 2013.
Windows Production entered film production with Alik Sukh (2013), a psychological thriller exploring the ethical dilemmas faced by doctors. The film premiered at the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival and earned the duo the Filmfare Awards East for Best Direction. In 2014, the duo directed Ramdhanu, a family drama centred on modern parenting and the pressures of school admissions. They followed it with Belaseshe (2015), starring Soumitra Chatterjee and Swatilekha Sengupta.
2015-2021: Commercial breakthrough and family dramas
During the 2010s, Mukherjee and Roy established themselves as one of Bengali cinema's most commercially successful directing duos, producing a succession of family dramas that combined social commentary with mainstream appeal. Their next release, Praktan (2016), reunited Prosenjit Chatterjee and Rituparna Sengupta on screen after fourteen years. The film became the highest-grossing Bengali film of the year, while its songs received the 64th National Film Awards for Best Lyrics and Best Female Playback Singer.
Mukherjee and Roy continued with Posto (2017), a family drama exploring child custody and grandparent–grandchild relationships. In 2018, they released Haami, based on friendship and bullying among schoolchildren. It was followed later that year by the biographical drama Rosogolla, inspired by confectioner Nobin Chandra Das. The duo released two films in 2019: Konttho and Gotro, both of which addressed contemporary social issues through family-oriented narratives.
2022-present: Mainstream success and genre expansion
In 2022, Mukherjee and Roy directed Belashuru, a spiritual successor to Belaseshe, revisiting themes of ageing and long-term relationships. It was the last film of Soumitra Chatterjee, and was released posthumously, after his death. The following year, they released Raktabeej, a political thriller inspired by real-life incidents.
In 2024, the duo wrote, directed and produced Bohurupi, a heist thriller inspired by a "Bohurupi" gang of bank robbers in West Bengal. The film became one of the highest-grossing Bengali films of the year and won the Filmfare Awards Bangla for Best Film and Best Director.