Prafulla Roy (11 September 1934 – 19 June 2025) was a

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 ...

author, lived in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, India. He received

Bankim Puraskar Bankim Puraskar (, Bankim Memorial Award) is the highest award given by the Government of West Bengal for contribution to Bengali fiction. The award was instituted in 1975 in memory of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, a famous Bengali novelist of the ...

and

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for his literary contribution in

. Roy died on 19 June 2025, at the age of 90.

Early life

Prafulla Roy was born on 11 September 1934 in the village of Atpara,

Bikrampur Bikrampur (lit. City of Courage) was a historic region and a sub-division of Dhaka within the Bengal Presidency during the period of British India. Located along the banks of the Padma River (a major distributary of the Ganges), it was a sign ...

, in the former

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

, district of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. He moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1950 and resided in

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 had to struggle a lot to set foot in a new land. He travelled all over the country to experience the struggles of the people. And for this purpose he lived for some time among the indigenous people of

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

, who were the untouchables of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and the rootless people of the mainland of the

Andamans The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

, most of which later appeared flawlessly in his writings.

Author

Roy's writings portray powerful realities in both urban and rural conditions. He wrote over 150 books, including novels and short stories. His first novel was ''Purva Parvati'', written in

and published in 1956. He penned novels on refugee life, such as ''Keya Patar Nauko'' (2003), ''Shatdharay Boye Yay'' (2006), ''Uttal Samayer Itikatha'' (2014), ''Nona Jal Mithe Mati'' (Bang 136). Although it differs in form and name from ''Kayapatar Nauka'', ''Shatdharaya Boye Yaya'', ''Uttal Samay Itikatha'', it is actually a trilogy. From 1986 to 1989, at the initiative of Monindra Roy, ''Keya Patar Nauko'' was continuously published in ''Amrit Patrika''.

Adaptations

About 45 telefilms, tele-series, and number of feature-films were made based on his novels. Among his notable works are '' Ekhane Pinjor'' (1971), ''

Bagh Bondi Khela ''Bagh Bondi Khela'' () is a 1975 Indian Bengali-language political action thriller film co-written and directed by Pijush Basu. Produced by Ashima Bhattacharya, the film is based on Prafulla Roy's novel titled ''Prothom Tarar Alo''. It stars ...

'' (1975), ''Mohana Dike'' (1984), '' Aadmi Aur Aurat'' (1984), '' Ekanta Apan'' (1987), ''Prithibir Sesh Station'' (1993), ''

Charachar ''Charachar'' (English language:''Shelter of the Wings'', ) is a 1993 Bengali drama film directed and written by Buddhadev Dasgupta based on a novel by Prafulla Roy. Plot Lakha (Rajit Kapoor) comes from a family of bird catchers, but question ...

'' (1994), ''Target'' (1996), ''

Mondo Meyer Upakhyan ''Mondo Meyer Upakhyan'' (Bengali language, Bengali: ''মন্দ মেয়ের উপাখ্যান'') is a 2002 Indian Bengali language, Bengali-language film directed and written by Buddhadev Dasgupta. The film was also released und ...

'' (2003), ''Desh'' (2002), '' Krantikaal'' (2005), ''Pitribhumi'' (2007). India produced a serial drama of the same name based on his novel ''Keya Patar Nouko'', which aired on Indian Channel

Zee Bangla Zee Bangla is an Indian Bengali-language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. History The channel was launched on 15 September 1999 as ''Alpha TV Bangla'', along with Alpha TV Marathi, Alpha ...

Awards

for his novel ''Akasher Neeche Manush'' (1985) *

for his novel ''Krantikal'' (2003) * Bhualka Puraskar * Matilal Puraskar

References

External links