Mrinal Sen was an Indian film director and a nominated Member of the Indian parliament. Sen directed films primarily in Bengali and Hindi. Along with his contemporaries Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha and Satyajit Ray he pioneered the New Wave cinema in India. He has received multiple awards, including 18 National Film Awards. The Government of India has awarded him the Padma Bhushan, and the Government of France has awarded him the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, while Russian Government awarded him Order of Friendship. Sen was also awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He was the only Indian filmmaker along with Satyajit Ray whose films have been awarded at the big three film festivals namely the Cannes film festival, Venice Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival.Sen was a self described "private Marxist"