Narendranath Mitra (30 January 1916 – 14 September 1975) was an Indian writer and poet, best known for his short stories in the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

-language. Several of his works have been adapted into films, such as

Mahanagar ''Mahanagar'' () is a 1963 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Starring Madhabi Mukherjee in the leading role and based on the short story ''Abataranika'' by Narendranath Mitra, it tells the story of a hous ...

directed by

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...

Biography

Narendranath Mitra was born in Sadardi village, Faridpur,

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

(in modern-day

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

). His father was a lawyer's clerk. His mother died when he was very young and he was brought up by his stepmother. He was based in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, now in India at the time of partition in 1947, and chose to remain in India when his birthplace fell to the share of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

. In 1933, he passed S. S. C. Level from Vanga High School obtaining first division marks. After doing his I. A. from Rajendra College, Faridpur, he went to Calcutta for further studies. He completed his B. A. from Bangabasi College, of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

. He found employment at the Dum Dum ordnance factory in Kolkata during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After that, he joined Kolkata National Bank. Later, his family was living in Kolkata. He was a journalist, editor; worked for 'Krishok', '

Swaraj Swarāj ( sa, स्वराज, translit=Svarāja '' sva-'' "self", '' raj'' "rule") can mean generally self-governance or "self-rule". It was first used by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to attain self rule from the Mughal Empire and the Adil ...

' 'Satyajug'. From 1951 until his death in 1975, he was with

Anandabazar Patrika ''Anandabazar Patrika'' (Bengali: আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা, ) is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1 million cop ...

Works adaptations

His story ''Abataranika'' was adapted into ''

'' (The Big City) by

in 1964, with

Madhabi Mukherjee Madhabi Chakraborty (''née'' Mukherjee; born 10 February 1942) is an Indian actress. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Bengali film ''Dibratrir Kabya''. She has acted in some of the most critically ac ...

as lead. ''Ras''(রস) was adapted into the Hindi film, '' Saudagar'' (1973), by

Sudhendu Roy Sudhendu Roy (1921–1999) was a noted Indian film director, art director and production designer in Hindi cinema, most known for his realistic art direction in auteur Bimal Roy's films, like '' Sujata'' (1959), ''Madhumati'' (1959) and '' Ba ...

, starring

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

and Nutan; and a Bangladeshi film '' Poush Maser Pirit'' by

Nargis Akhter Nargis Akhter is a Bangladeshi film director, screenwriter and producer. Her first directed film was ''Meghla Akash''. After her first film, she directed various films including '' Megher Koley Rod'' (2008), ''Abujh Bou'' (2010), and '' Poush Mas ...

, starring

Ahmed Rubel Ahmed Reza Rubel (born 1965) is a Bangladeshi theatre, movie and television actor. He started his career in Selim Al Deen's theatre group "Dhaka Theatre". Later he concentrated into mainstream commercial movies and starred in 6 movies. Then he l ...

and

Sadika Parvin Popy Sadika Parvin Popy (born 10 September) known mononymously as Popy, is a Bangladeshi film actress. She won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actress three times for the films ''Karagar'' (2003), ''Megher Koley Roud'' (2008) and ''Gangajatra ...

. In 1970, Bengali film ''Bilambita Lay'' and in 1975 ''Palanka'' were released based on his short story. 1988 Bengali film, ''

Phera '' Phera'' (English language:''The Return'') is a 1988 Bengali drama film directed by Buddhadeb Dasgupta based on a story of Bengali novelist Narendranath Mitra. It was entered into the 38th Berlin International Film Festival, competition se ...

'' by

Buddhadeb Dasgupta Buddhadeb Dasgupta (11 February 1944 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian filmmaker and poet best known for his Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali-language films like ''Bagh Bahadur'', ''Tahader Katha'', ''Charachar'' and ''Uttara (film), Uttara''. Five ...

, was also adapted from his story.

Bibliography

*''Deeppunjo'' *''Osomotol'' *''Holde Bari'' *''Dehomon'' *''Durvashini'' *''Rupmonjori'' *''Ultoroth'' *''Sukh Dukher Dheu'' *''Suklapakhya'' *''Chenamahal'' *''Chorai Utrai'' *''Okhore Okhore'' *''Jatrapath'' *''Misrarag'' *''Headmaster'' *''Mohanagar'' *''Chilekotha'' *''Shandhyarag'' *''Surjasakkhi'' *''Sreshtha Golpo'' *''Tin Din Tin Ratri'' *''Suryasakshi'' *''Godhuli'' *''Chhatri'' *''Debjan'' *''Bilambitalay''

References

External links

* *
Narendranath Mitra
at the West Bengal Public Library Network Bengali-language writers Bengali male poets Bengali-language poets 20th-century Bengali poets 1916 births 1975 deaths Bengali Hindus Bengali writers 20th-century Bengalis People from Faridpur District Bangabasi College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Writers from Kolkata Novelists from West Bengal Bengali novelists Indian poets Indian male poets 20th-century Indian poets Poets from West Bengal Indian male writers 20th-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian male writers Indian short story writers Indian male short story writers 20th-century Indian short story writers Indian journalists Indian male journalists Indian newspaper journalists 20th-century Indian journalists Indian novelists Indian male novelists Indian editors Indian newspaper editors {{india-poet-stub