Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

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Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay
শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়
Born 15 September 1876(1876-09-15)
Debanandapur, Hooghly, Bengal, British India
Died 16 January 1938(1938-01-16) (aged 61)
Kolkata, Bengal, British India
Pen name Anila Devi
Occupation Writer
Nationality Indian
Ethnicity Bengali Hindu
Citizenship Indian
Period 19th century
Genres Novelist
Literary movement Bengal Renaissance

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (Bengali: শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়)[1] (15 September 1876 – 16 January 1938) is one of the most popular Bengali novelists and short story writers of early 20th century.

Contents

[edit] Background and writing

Sarat Chandra was born into poverty in Debanandapur, Hooghly, India. His family was occasionally supported by other family members and Sarat Chandra's lack of financial stability would influence his writing in years to come. He started his education at "Pyarai Pandits" pathshala and then he took admission at Hooghly Branch High School. Although he began as a fine arts student, Chattopadhyay left his studies due to his persistent state of poverty. He received his early education while residing at his paternal uncle's house in Bhagalpur. He spent 20 years of his life in Bhagalpur and a significant portion of his novels were either written in Bhagalpur or based on his experience in Bhagalpur.

    His work represented rural Bengali society and he often wrote against social superstitions and oppression. For a short period he was a sannyasi, a Hindu ascetic who abandons the material and social worlds. His first published story was "Mandir". He was particularly sensitive to the cause of women.

    After the death of his parents Sarat Chandra left his college education midway and went to Burma in 1903. There he found employment with a Government Office as clerk. He did not remain at his job in Burma for long and decided to return to his homeland but before his departure he submitted a short story for a prize competition under his uncle's name, Surendranath Ganguli. It won first prize in 1904.

    Sarat Chandra's biography is available in Hindi, written by a well known author, Vishnu Prabhakar. Prabhakar traveled for fourteen years continuously to collect material for this book.

    Though he was always known to be an intrepid champion of the marginalised when it comes to novels, personally he was always a shy and private person. There was an occasion when his name was already announced and he was supposed to meet his readers but he left and the curtain was raised on an empty stage.

    He died in Kolkata of liver cancer in 1938.

    [edit] Works

    • Borodidi, (The Elder Sister) 1907
    • Bindur Chhele, (Bindu's Son) 1913
    • Parinita/Parineeta, 1914
    • Biraj Bou, (Mrs. Biraj) 1914
    • Ramer Shumoti, (Ram Returning to Sanity) 1914
    • Palli Shomaj, 1916
    • Arakhsanya, 1916
    • Debdas/Devdas, 1917 (written in 1901)
    • Choritrohin, (Characterless) 1917
    • Srikanto, (4 parts, 1917, 1918, 1927, 1933)
    • Datta, 1917–19
    • Grihodaho, 1919
    • Dena Paona, (Debts and Demands) 1923
    • Pather Dabi, (Demand for a Pathway) 1926
    • Ses Prasna, (The Final Question) 1931
    • Bipradas, 1935
    • Nishkriti
    • Mejho Didi
    • Chandranath
    • Bilashi
    • Mandir
    • Pandit Mashay
    • Dhare Alo
    • Naba Bidhan
    • Shesher Parichoy
    • Boikunter Will
    • Shubhoda
    • Swami (The Husband)
    • Ekadoshi Bairagi
    • Mahesh (The Drought)
    • Anuradha
    • Anupamar Prem
    • Andhare Aalo
    • Dorpochurno (Broken Pride)
    • Harilakshmi
    • Kashinath
    • Abhagir Swargo
    • Aalo O Chhaya
    • Srikanta
    • Sharda (published posthumously)

    [edit] Films

    Kundal Lal Saigal and Jamuna in Devdas.

    His works have been made into some fifty films in many Indian languages,[2] particularly his novel Devdas made into eight versions, from Bengali, Hindi to Telugu, Parineeta also been made twice, Majhli Didi (1967) by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Swami (1977) for which he was awarded Filmfare Award for Best Story. Another famous film Chhoti Bahu (1971) is based on his novel Bindur Chhele.

    There was another movie based on his novel called Nishkriti, Apne Paraye (1980) by Basu Chatterjee, starring Amol Palekar.[3] The Telugu film Thodi Kodallu (1957) is also based on this novel. Gulzar's 1975 film, Khushboo is majorly inspired by his work entitled Pandit Mashay. The 1961 Telugu film Vagdanam by Acharya Atreya is loosely based on his novel Datta. Also the 2011 film Aalo Chhaya is based on his short story, Aalo O Chhaya.

    [edit] Select Awards and Degrees

    [edit] Textbooks

    • Golpo Songroho (Collected Stories), the national text book of B.A. (pass and subsidiary) course of Bangladesh, published by University of Dhaka in 1979 (reprint in 1986).
    • Bangla Sahitya (Bengali Literature), the national text book of intermediate (college) level of Bangladesh published in 1996 by all educational boards.

    [edit] See also

    [edit] References

    1. ^ alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee
    2. ^ Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay at the Internet Movie Database
    3. ^ Gulzar; Govind Nihalani, Saibal Chatterjee (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. p. 337. ISBN 8179910660. http://books.google.com/books?id=8y8vN9A14nkC. 

    [edit] General

    [edit] External links

    An Evaluation of Saratchandra:

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