Mrinal Sen was born in 1923 in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh). He studied with Physics major in Calcutta University. In his young age, Sen got interested in Marxist philosophy. He was used to write film reviews. In 1943, he joined Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). His interest in film was sudden when he came a across a book titled 'Film' by Rudolf Arnheim. His films were influenced by leftist idealism and mostly focused the social and political crisis in middle class life. Mrinal Sen's first film was Raat Bhor in 1956. His second movie Neel Akasher Nichey (Under The Blue Sky) was banned by Government for two months in 1958.

He directed Baisey Sravan (A wedding day) in 1960 which was a love story ending in famine. In 1956, he made Akash Kusum (The Daydream). His most remarkable films include Ekdin Pratidin(1979) and Kharij(1982) where Sen depicted the middle class urban life complexity. In 1980, he directed Akaler Sandhaney (In Search of Famine). The political unrest in Calcutta was portrayed in his movies as in, Interview, Calcutta 71, Padatik. He made movies in other languages such as Oriya, Telegu and Hindi.
Sen lives in Calcutta.

Filmography: IMDB
Mrinal Sen Web Page: mrinalsen.org