Winner of 2 national awards and multiple international awards, Das started his film career in the mid-1970s with two documentaries named The Art of Anant Malakar and Tripura. His first feature was Sainik (Soldier). The film was shown in various international film festivals including Berlinale in 1976. Other notable ones were Mannheim, Tehran, Cracow, Mongolia, and Yugoslavia, and it was invited to San Remo Film Competition in Italy, where Das became the youngest filmmaker ever to compete at the prestigious film fest.