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

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

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

Biography

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was born on 17 June 1903 to an

Agrawal Agrawal (Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal'', ''Agarawala'', or Aggrawal) is a Bania caste. The Banias of northern India are a cluster of several communities, of which the Agrawal Banias, Maheshwari Banias, Osw ...

family, to Paramananda Agarwala(1869-1934) and Kiranmoyee Devi(Died in 1933) at Tamulbari Tea Estate. His uncles were renowned poets

Chandra Kumar Agarwala Chandra Kumar Agarwala (28 November 1867 – 2 March 1938) was a writer, poet, journalist from Assam. He is a pioneer of the Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism of Assamese literature. Agarwala was titled as Pratimar Khonikor in Assamese literat ...

and Ananda Chandra Agarwala. His forefather, Nabrangram Agarwala(1811-1865), 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. 'Maru' is a Sanskrit word for desert. The word 'wad' literally means fence in Rajasthani languages. Engl ...

region in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. After completing his studies in various schools in

and

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

, he matriculated in 1921. He went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 - March 26,1938) was an Indian poet, novelist and playwright of modern Assamese literature. Commonly known as the father of the Assamese short story. He was one of the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era ...

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 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. History Tezpur was under the rule of the Koch dynasty ...

, India.

Works

Short Stories * Rupohi (ৰূপহী) * Bogitora (বগীতৰা) * Xontora (সোণতৰা) * Xuntir Abhimaan (সোণটিৰ অভিমান) * Zuzaru (যুঁজাৰু) * Xotir Xuworoni (সতীৰ সোঁৱৰণী) * Xondhya (সন্ধ্যা) * Pratnatattikar Kalaaghumati (প্ৰত্নতাত্ত্বিকৰ কলাঘুমটি) * Neela Charai (নীলা চৰাই) 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 ''Kumpur Xopon''(কুম্পুৰ 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(শোণিত কুঁৱৰী) (1925) *Karengar Ligiri(কাৰেঙৰ লিগিৰী) (1930) * Rupalim(ৰূপালীম) (1938) * Nimati Konya(নিমাতী কইনা) (1964) * Xonpokhilee(সোণপখিলী) * Khanikar(খনিকৰ) (1977) * Lobhita(লভিতা) (1945)

Incomplete plays

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

Film

Agarwala is lauded as the creator of Assamese

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

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

Indramalati ''Indramalati'' is a 1939 film directed by the Assamese poet Jyotiprasad Agarwala. Background Director Jyotiprasad faced a major financial crisis after his first film '' Joymoti'' (1935) failed commercially. He spent more than Rs 50,000 and ...

(ইন্দ্ৰমালতী)'' (1939)

Poems

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

Stamp

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

Government of Assam The Government of Assam or Assam Government abbreviated as GoAS, is the Subnational legislature, state government of the Indian state of Assam. It consists of the Governors of states of India, Governor appointed by the President of India as th ...

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. 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 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 Deaths from cancer in India