Jyoti Prasad Agarwala (2 July 1903 – 17 January 1951) was a noted Indian playwright, songwriter, poet, writer and film maker from

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. He was considered as Assamese cultural icon, deeply revered for his creative vision and output and is popularly called the ''Rupkonwar'' of Assamese culture. In fact, he is regarded as the founder of

Assamese cinema Assamese cinema, also known as Jollywood, is an Indian film industry of Assamese-language motion pictures. It is based in Assam, India. The industry was born in 1935 when Jyoti Prasad Agarwala released his movie '' Joymoti''. Since then the A ...

for '' Joymoti'' (1935). His death anniversary (17 January) is observed as ''Silpi divas'' (Artists' Day) his honor.

Biography

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was born on 02 July 1903 to an Agrawal family, to Paramananda Agarwala and Kiranmoyee Devi at Tamulbari Tea Estate. His uncles were renowned Assamese poets Chandra Kumar Agarwala and

Ananda Chandra Agarwala Ananda Chandra Agarwala (1874–1940) was a writer, poet, historian, translator and administrative officer from Sonitpur district of Assam. He is known as Bhangoni Kunwor (ভাঙনি কোঁৱৰ) for his translation of several Engli ...

. His forefather, Nabrangram Agarwala, had come to Assam in 1811 from the

Marwar Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. The word 'maru' is Sanskrit for desert. In Rajasthani languages, "wad" means a particular area. English tra ...

region in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

. After completing his studies in various schools in

and

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, he matriculated in 1921. He went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in 1926 to study economics, but returned in 1930 before completing his course. On his way back, he spent seven months at the UFA studio in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

learning film-making. Joymati production

After his return to Assam, he continued his activities for Indian independence that had disrupted his studies earlier and in 1932 he was imprisoned for fifteen months. He established the Chitraban Studio at the Bholaguri Tea Estate and began filming the movie ''Joymoti'' around the end of 1933. This was the first film from

. The film, released in 1935, was based on a play by

Laxminath Bezbarua ' Lakshminath Bezbarua (, 14 October 1864), was an Assamese poet, novelist and playwright of modern Assamese literature. He was one of the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism in Assamese literature when through his ess ...

about the heroic Ahom princess Sati Joymoti imprisoned and tortured by a repressive Ahom swargadeo. In 1936 he married Devajani Bhuyan. In 1941 he participated in the freedom movement, and in 1942, he went underground to escape British repression. Toward the end of his life he moved from a romantic to a more radical vision, which was reflected in his works. He died of cancer on 17 January 1951 at his residence Poki in

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

, India.

Works

Short Stories * Rupohi(ৰূপহী) * Bogitora(বগীতৰা) * Xontora(সন্তৰা) * Xuntir Abhimaan(সোণটিৰ অভিমান) * Zuzaru(যুঁজাৰু) * Xotir Xuworoni(সতীৰ সোঁৱৰণী) * Xondhya(সন্ধিয়া) * Xilakuti(শিলাকুটি) * Neelasorai(নীলাচৰাই) and more.

Novel

Amar Gaon(আমাৰ গাঁও)

Other books

* Jyotidhara(জ্যোতিধৰা) * Chandrakumar Agarwala(চন্দ্ৰ কুমাৰ আগৰৱালা) * Background of Assamese Architecture(অসমীয়া শিল্পকলাৰ ইতিহাস)

Children literature

He wrote about thirteen children's poems, among which ''Kampur Xopon''(কামপুৰ সপোন) is noteworthy.

Songs

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala had written around 300+ songs, many of which he had set to music himself. Collectively, these songs are called ''Jyoti xongit''(জ্যোতি সংগীত).

Plays

* Sonit Kunwori(শোণিতকুঁৱৰী) (1925) * Karengar Ligiri(কাৰেঙৰ লিগিৰী) (1930) * Rupalim(ৰূপালীম) (1938) *

Nimati Konya Nimati is a village in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal. It is about away from Alipurduar and is a tourist destination. It is part of Buxa Tiger Reserve , photo = Buxa Tiger Reserve forest 2014.jpg , iucn_category = II , map = Indi ...

(নিমাতী কইনা) (1964) * Khanikar(খনিকৰ) (1977) * Lobhita(লভিতা) (1945) *

Perfection of me Perfection is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence. The term is used to designate a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts. These have historically been addressed in a number of discrete disciplines, n ...

(মোৰ পূণ্যতা)

Incomplete Plays

* Kanaklata(কনকলতা) * Sundarknowar(সুন্দৰ কোঁৱৰ) * Sonpakhilee(সোণপখিলী)

Film

Agarwala is lauded as the creator of Assamese

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

. In a period that saw the beginning of Indian Cinema, with. * '' Joymoti(জয়মতী)'' (1935) * ''

Indramalati ''Indramalati'' is the second Assamese language film, directed by the great Assamese poet Jyotiprasad Agarwala. It was released in 1939. Background Director Jyotiprasad faced a major financial crisis after his first film '' Joymoti'' (1935) ...

(ইন্দ্ৰমালতী)'' (1939)

Poems

* ''Jyoti Raamaayon''(জ্যোতি ৰামায়ণ) – Poetry Collection * ''Luitor Paaror Agnixur''(লুইতৰ পাৰৰ অগ্নাসুৰ) – Poetry Collection, 1971

Stamp

In honor of Agarwala's contributions to Assamese literature and film, the

Government of Assam The Government of Assam is the subnational government of Assam, a state of India. It consists of the Governor appointed by the President of India as the head of the state, currently Jagdish Mukhi. The head of government is the Chief Minister, ...

issued a commemorative stamp of "Agarwala" in 2004. It was pushed for by the AGP and approved by the Prime Minister of India in mid-2004.Centre clears stamp on Jyoti Prasad
NENA – 22 July 2003

References

External links

Rupaliparda.com – About Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agarwala, Jyoti Prasad 1903 births 1951 deaths Musicians from Assam Assamese-language poets Dramatists and playwrights from Assam Assamese-language film directors 20th-century Indian film directors People from Sonitpur district 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian musicians 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Film directors from Assam Poets from Assam Writers from Assam Writers from Northeast India Assamese-language lyricists