Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay
Born	30 March 1899(1899-03-30) Jaunpur, British India
Died	22 September 1970(1970-09-22) (aged 71) Pune, India
Occupation	Writer
Language	Bengali
Notable work(s)	Byomkesh Bakshi stories

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (Bangla: শরদিন্দু বন্দোপাধ্যায়) (30 March 1899 – 22 September 1970) was a well known literary figure of Bengal. He was also actively involved with Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. His most famous creation is the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi.

He wrote different forms of prose: novels, short stories, plays and screenplays. However, his forte was short stories and novels. He wrote historical fiction like Kaler Mandira, GourMollar (initially named as Mouri Nodir Teere), Tumi Sandhyar Megh, Tungabhadrar Teere (all novels), Chuya-Chandan, Maru O Sangha (later made into a Hindi film named Trishangni) and stories of the unnatural with the recurring character Baroda. Besides, he wrote many songs and poems.

Personal life and education

He was born to Tarabhushan and Bijaliprabha Bandyopadhyay.

He passed the matriculation examination in 1915 and took admission in Vidyasagar College, Calcutta. While studying there, he published his first work, Jaubansmriti, a collection of poems, at the age of 20. In 1919, he passed the B.A. examination. He studied law in Patna and then devoted his time to writing. The main theme of most of his writings is romance, basically it is the beautiful relationship between a man and a woman.

Career

The first Byomkesh Bakshi work appeared in 1932. One of his earliest stories, Raktasandhya, appeared in Bengali in 1939. It was later included in The Scarlet Dusk (2003), a collection of 5 of his stories translated into English.

He moved to Bombay in 1938 to write screenplays for Bombay Talkies and other film banners. He gave up ties with the film industry in 1952, and moved to Pune, to concentrate on writing. He wrote several ghost stories, historical romances and children's stories in Bengali over the next 18 years.

Characters

Byomkesh Bakshi [ব্যোমকেশ বক্সী]

Byomkesh Bakshi is a Satyanneshi ,i.e., inquistor.

Main article: Byomkesh Bakshi

Baroda [বরদা]

Baroda is a ghost-hunter. Like the Mejokorta of Premendra Mitra, he has direct interactions with ghosts. In Byomkesh O Baroda, the two characters meet, but the supposed ghost is found to be a rouge man by Byomkesh.

Bibliography

Novels

• Kaler Mandira [কালের মন্দিরা] (1951)
• GaurMallar [গৌড়মল্ললার] (1954)
• Tumi Sandhyar Megh [তুমি সন্ধ্যার মেঘ] (1958)
• Kumarsambhaber Kabi [কুমারসম্ভবের কবি] (1963)
• Tungabhadrar Teere [তুঙ্গভদ্রার তীরে] (1965)
• Jhinder Bondi [ঝিন্দের বন্দী]
• Dadar Kirti [দাদার কীর্তি]

Short stories

• Jatismar [জাতিস্মর] (1933)
• Chuya-Chandan [চুয়া-চন্দন] (1935)
• BishKonya [বিষকন্যা] (1942)
• Sada Prithibi [সাদা পৃথিবী] (1948)
• Emon Dine [এমন দিনে] (1963)
• ShankhaKankan [শঙ্খকঙ্কণ] (1963)
• Kortar Kirti [কর্তার কীর্তি]
• Timingil [তিমিঙ্গিল]
• Protidwondee [প্রতিদ্বন্দী]
• Adim Nrityo [আদিম নৃত্য]
• Kutub Shirshe [কুতুব শীর্ষে]
• Vendeta [ভেনডেটা]
• Mone Mone [মনে মনে]
• Jhi [ঝি]
• Toothbrush [টুথব্রাশ]
• Arob Sagorer Rosikota [আরব সাগরের রসিকতা]
• Premik [প্রেমিক]
• Roopkotha [রূপকথা]
• GronthiRohosyo [গ্রন্থিরহস্য]
• Bhutor Chondrobindu [ভূতোর চন্দ্রবিন্দু]
• SondehoJonok Byapar [সন্দেহজনক ব্যাপার]
• Sekalini [সেকালিনী]
• Asomapto [অসমাপ্ত]
• Mukhos [মুখোস]
• Poriksha [পরীক্ষা]
• Vokti Vajon [ভক্তি ভোজন]
• Bohu Bighnani [বহু বিঘ্নানি]

Collected works

• Sharadindu Omnibus [শরদিন্দু অমনিবাস] (in 12 volumes) (edited by Pratul Chandra Gupta, Bandyopadhyay’s friend and published by the Ananda Publishers, Kolkata).

(See also Byomkesh Bakshi for individual stories featuring this detective)

Filmography

As screenplay writer:

• Durga [দুর্গা] (1939)
• Kangan (1939)
• Navjeevan (1939)
• Azad (1940)

Films based on Sharadindu's writings

Bengali

• Chiriyakhana [চিড়িয়াখানা] —Directed by Satyajit Ray is based on one of the most intricate detective novels ever written in Bengali. It features supersleuth Byomkesh Bakshi
• Jhinder Bondi [ঝিন্দের বন্দী] —Directed by Tapan Sinha is based on a recreation of Prisoner of Zenda written by Anthony Hope. This novel is categorized as one of Sharadindu's romantic novels.
• Dadar Kirti [দাদার কীর্তি] —Directed by Tarun Majumdar. This full-length feature is based on a short-story of the same name.
• Meghmukti [মেঘমুক্তি] —Directed by Tarun Majumdar. This full-length feature is based on a short-story of named Kortar Kirti.
• Mogno Mainak [মগ্ন মৈনাক] —Directed by Swapan Ghoshal who also directed the two bengali TV series on the sleuth. The film is featuring several TV actors. TV actor Shuvrajit Dutta is playing Bakshi.
• Adim Ripu [আদিম রিপু] —Directed by Anjan Dutta. Abir Chatterjee plays Byomkesh Bakshi while Saswata Chatterjee plays Ajit. Swastika Mukherjee plays Shiuli the bar dancer and Chandan Sen plays arms dealer Batul. Dutta plans to make a trilogy. The series is expected to be followed by the other two stories Chitrachor and Kohen Kobi Kalidas.

Hindi

• Trishagni (1988) is an award-winning film directed by Nabendu Ghosh, based on Sharadindu's historical short story Moru O Sangho.

Awards

Bandyopadhyay was awarded the Rabindra Puraskar in 1967 for the novel Tungabhadrar Tirey. The Calcutta University honoured him with the Sarat Smriti Purashkar in 1967 too.

See also

Children's literature portal

• Byomkesh Bakshi

References

Roy, Pinaki. The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories. New Delhi: Sarup Book Publishers, 2008. ISBN 978-81-7625-849-4.

External links

• Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay at the Internet Movie Database
• 2 short stories
• An English translation of some of the stories
• Another Book

Persondata
Name	Bandyopadhyay, Sharadindu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	30 March 1899
Place of birth
Date of death	22 September 1970
Place of death