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 Agrawal (anglicised as Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal, Agarawala) is a Bania community found throughout northern, central and western India, mainly in the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Hi ...

family, to Paramananda Agarwala and Kiranmoyee Devi at Tamulbari Tea Estate. His uncles were renowned Assamese poets

Chandra Kumar Agarwala Chandra Kumar Agarwala ( as, চন্দ্ৰকুমাৰ আগৰৱালা; 28 November 1867 – 2 March 1938) was an eminent writer, poet, journalist from Assam. He is a pioneer people of Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism of Assames ...

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 tran ...

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 , 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, comm ...

, 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 of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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 (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

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 about the heroic Ahom princess

Sati Joymoti Joymoti Konwari, was the wife of Tai-Ahom Prince Gadapani (later Supatphaa). She was accorded the honorific Mohiyokhi on account of her heroic endurance of torture until the end, dying at the hands of royalists under Sulikphaa ''Loraa Roja'' ...

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(নিমাতী কইনা) (1964) * Khanikar(খনিকৰ) (1977) * Lobhita(লভিতা) (1945) * Perfection of me(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) f ...

(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 Minis ...

issued a commemorative stamp of "Agarwala" in 2004. It was pushed for by the

AGP AGP may refer to: Science and technology * Accelerated Graphics Port, a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a graphics card to a computer's motherboard * Advance Game Port, a third-party GameCube accessory * Aerosol-generating proce ...

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