Premankur Atorthy (1890–1964) was an Indian novelist, journalist, and film director. He was involved in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and Bengali cinema.''Encyclopedia of Indian film'' article on Atorthy

Early life

Atorthy's was born in Faridpur and his initial schooling started at Brahmo School,

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. He then studied variously at Duff School, Keshab Academy, City School and Brahma Boys Boarding and Day School, which were then under the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

. His father, Mahesh Chandra Atorthy, was a propagator and writer of the '' Brahma Samaj''. Atorthy was imaginative and fond of adventure from boyhood. Failing to do well in his school, he ran away from home. At

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, he learnt to play the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

under Ustad Karamatullah. Returning to Kolkata, he started working at a sports goods shop in Chowringee. Subsequently, he worked for the Baikali, Yadughar, Hindustan, Bharatvarsha, Sangkalpa, Nachghar and Bharati.

Works

He was a noted novelist and playwright, author of many books including compilations of short stories, essays (e.g. on silent film, cf. Atorthy, 1990) and plays. His best- known literary work was ''Mahasthavir Jatak'' (1944), a fictional autobiography in four volumes noted for its irreverent portrayal of Calcutta's early 20th-century élites. Among his other novels are ''Anarkali'' (1925), ''Bajikar'' (1922), ''Achalpather Jatri'' (1923), ''Chasir Meye'' (1924), ''Dui Ratri'' (1927) and ''Takht Taus''. Associated with literary journal ''Bharati'', he edited ''Nachghar'', one of the first performing arts journals to take film seriously, with Hemendra Kumar Roy and film- maker Pashupati Chatterjee. He founded ''Betar Jagat'', the journal of the AIR, Calcutta (1929). He started as scenarist and actor, using the pseudonym Krishna Haldar, at Indian Kinema Arts (''Punarjanma'', 1927; ''Chasher Meye'', 1931). He remade ''Punarjanma'' in 1932. He joined B. N. Sircar's International Filmcraft as writer and assistant to Prafulla Roy (Chasher Meye is based on Atorthy's novel and script). He also scripted Nitin Bose's ''Buker Bojha'' (1930). Premankur entered the cinema world with a role in the Bangla film ''Punarjanma''. His first directed film, ''Dena Paona'', was New Theatres' first talkie, made in direct competition with Madan Theatres' ''Jamai Sasthi'' (1931). He made several Hindi films as part of New Theatres' effort to enter the North Indian market, including the classic film of Agha Hashar Kashmiri's play ''Misar Kumari'' to '' Yahudi Ki Ladki'' (1933). His film versions of literary classics, e.g. from Saratchandra Chattopadhyay (''Dena Paona''), Rabindranath Tagore (''Chirakumar Sabha'') and Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay (''Kapal Kundala''), established the élite literary film genre intended to distinguish New Theatres' films from routine stage adaptations and remained important signifiers of high art in Bengali cinema. First Bengali film-maker to work in Western India, e.g. for Kolhapur Cinetone (1935) and for Imperial (1936). Credited with the supervision of H. K. Shivdasani's ''Yasmin'' (1935), made by the Krishna Studio.

Filmography

Director

Writer

* '' Sarala'' (1936) * '' Bhikharan'' (1935)... aka ''Song of Life'' (India: English title)

Actor

* ''Chasher Meye'' (1931) ... aka ''Farmer's Daughter'' (India: English title)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atorthy, Premankur Male actors from British India 20th-century Indian male actors Bengali film producers Film producers from Kolkata Bengali film directors Male actors in Bengali cinema Indian male film actors Bengali writers Indian male screenwriters Film theorists Bengali-language writers Film directors from Kolkata University of Calcutta alumni 1890 births 1964 deaths Screenwriters from Kolkata 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Kolkata Brahmos 20th-century Indian screenwriters Novelists from West Bengal People from Faridpur District