Pritish Nandy
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pritish Nandy (15 January 1951 – 8 January 2025) was an Indian poet, painter, journalist, politician, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, television and streaming content. He was a parliamentarian in the
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
from Maharashtra, elected on a ticket from the
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...
. He authored forty books of poetry in English and translated poems by other writers from Bengali, Urdu and Punjabi into English as well as a new version of the ''Isha Upanishad''. Apart from these, he authored books of stories and non fiction as well as three books of translations of classical love poetry from Sanskrit. He was the Publishing Director of The Times of India Group between 1982 and 1991, and also served as editor for ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'', The Independent, and ''Filmfare''. He held six exhibitions of his paintings and calligraphy. He founded Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd, the content company, in 1993. He also founded People for Animals, India's first animal rights NGO with
Maneka Gandhi Maneka Gandhi (also spelled Menaka; ''née'' Anand) (born 26 August 1956) is an Indian politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist. She served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, and is a member ...
.


Background

Pritish Nandy was born in
Bhagalpur Bhagalpur, historically known as Champapuri, Champa Nagari, is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern bank of the Ganges river. It is the Bihar#Government and administration, third largest city of Bihar by population and ...
in the state 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 ...
in eastern India to 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 ...
family, self-identifying as an
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...
. He is the son of Satish Chandra Nandy and Prafulla Nalini Nandy, and brother of
Ashis Nandy Ashis Nandy (born 13 May 1937) is an Indian political psychologist, social theorist, futurist and critic. A trained clinical psychologist, Nandy has provided theoretical critiques of European colonialism, development, modernity, secularism, ...
and Manish Nandy. His daughters Rangita Pritish-Nandy (born 1978) and Ishita Pritish-Nandy (born 1980) are film producers, creators and show runners and his son
Kushan Nandy Kanishka Kushan Nandy, (better known as Kushan Nandy) is an Indian film producer, writer and director. He produces films under the banner of the current entertainment house Movies by the Mob. He turned independent director in television, went ...
(born 1972) is a film producer, writer and director. Pritish Nandy was educated at
La Martiniere College LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...
and, briefly, at Presidency College 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 ...
, where he spent the first 28 years of his life. Nandy's mother was a teacher at La Martiniere Calcutta and subsequently became the school's first Indian vice principal. Nandy died at his Mumbai home, on 8 January 2025, at the age of 73.


Literary career

Pritish Nandy's first book of poems ''Of Gods and Olives'' was published in 1967. Three further volumes followed in the 1960s and a further 14 volumes were published in the 1970s. During the seventies Nandy edited and published a poetry magazine called Dialogue which published many of India's finest poets in English and other languages, in translation. Dialogue also published over forty books of poems, of first time poets as well as famous poets. It became an iconic platform for contemporary Indian poetry, in English and in translation. In July 1981 Nandy was nominated as a Poet Laureate by the World Academy of Arts and Culture at the Fifth World Congress of Poets in San Francisco. Nandy's poem Calcutta If You Must Exile Me is considered a pioneering classic in modern Indian literature. The Government of India conferred on him the Padma Shri in 1977 for his contribution to Indian literature. He wrote a new book of poems called “Again” in 2010 after a long hiatus and then, “Stuck on 1/Forty" in 2012. In 2014, his version of the Isha Upanishad was published.


Journalistic career

He was the publishing director of ''The Times of India'' between 1982 and 1991. He was also managing editor of the group and editor and publisher of ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' during its most successful decade. He was also editor and publisher of ‘’The Independent’’, a newspaper launched by the same group and ‘’Filmfare’’ the popular magazine. Nandy left The Times of India group to start his own media company Pritish Nandy Communications which was founded in 1993. He was chairman of Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd, popularly known as PNC and well known for its films, TV shows, and streaming content. He was also a columnist with ''The Times of India'', ''Dainik Bhaskar'', ''Divya Bhaskar'' and ''Sangbad Pratidin''. His regular column appeared in ‘’Mumbai Mirror’’ and his blog on ''Times Online''. Nandy was one of the first internet evangelists in India and opened India's first
cyber café Cyber- is a prefix derived from 'cybernetic,' used in terms relating to computers, technology, networks (including Internet), and others. Cyber may also refer to: Computers * CDC Cyber, a range of mainframe computers Arts and entertainment * Cy ...
in 1996 at Hotel Leela Kempinski in Mumbai.


Political career

Pritish Nandy was elected to the
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
representing
Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, the upper house of the Indian parliament, in July 1998. He was elected on a Shiv Sena ticket. He was a member of parliament for six years and was on a number of committees including the National Committee to Celebrate 50 years of Independence, the Parliamentary Committee for Defence, the Parliamentary Committee for Communications, the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs. Nandy headed the Expert Committee for upgradation of the International Film Festival of India set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and submitted its findings to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in 2011.


Humanitarian work

Nandy worked for many causes but is best known as the founder of
People for Animals People For Animals is one of India's largest animal welfare organisations, originally founded by Maneka Gandhi in 1992. Currently, the headquarters of this organisation is located in New Delhi, with over 100 regional units located around India. ...
, India's largest animal protection NGO that
Maneka Gandhi Maneka Gandhi (also spelled Menaka; ''née'' Anand) (born 26 August 1956) is an Indian politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist. She served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, and is a member ...
, its co-founder, heads and runs as chairperson. He received the International Humanitarian Award at the Genesis Awards in Los Angeles in 2012, supported by the Humane Society of the United States, the largest animal protection body in the US. On 28 November 2012, Nandy founded World Compassion Day, a platform for promoting the values of compassion and ahimsa, and the first lecture on the occasion was delivered in Mumbai by the 14th Dalai Lama who spoke on the ethical treatment of animals.


Film and television

Nandy founded
Pritish Nandy Communications Pritish Nandy (15 January 1951 – 8 January 2025) was an Indian poet, painter, journalist, politician, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, television and streaming content. He was a parliamentarian in the Ra ...
in 1993 and remained its non-executive chairman and creative mentor. The company's first programme was a chat show titled ''The Pritish Nandy Show'' which aired on
Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...
, India's public broadcasting channel. This was the first signature show on Indian television. This was followed by ''Fiscal Fitness: The Pritish Nandy Business Show'', India's first weekly business show, on
Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...
. Nandy presented over 500 news and current affairs shows on Doordarshan, Zee TV and
Sony TV Sony Television, Sony TV, or Sony HD may refer to any of the following television-related products from Japanese conglomerate Sony: * Television sets designed and manufactured by Sony Corporation in Japan ** Trinitron, television hardware brand (196 ...
. He made 24 films over the years, which won numerous awards and much critical acclaim. His company Pritish Nandy Communications spearheaded the multiplex film genre in India. The very successful Original series made by his company, ‘’Four More Shots Please!’’ (for Amazon and streaming on Prime Video) won an International Emmy nomination in 2020 and several other awards across the world. The Amazon India Creative Head called it their most watched show out of India in a quote to the New York Times which carried a major story on the show and its impact. ‘’Modern Love Mumbai’’, his most recent Original show (2022) has been critically acclaimed and opened to a record breaking viewership.


Television content

* ''India 98 : The Choice'' – A live election debate show on Doordarshan. Moderated by Pritish Nandy and Nalini Singh. Directed by Pankuj Parashar. Won the RAPA Award. * ''The Pritish Nandy Show'' – A signature chat show on Doordarshan and Zee TV Network. Hosted by Pritish Nandy. Directed by Umesh Agarwal. The show was later repeated on Doordarshan Metro, Jain, Sun and Udaya TV. Nominated for the Screen Videocon Awards. * ''Maneka's Ark'' – An environment chat show on Star Plus and Doordarshan. Hosted by Maneka Gandhi. Directed by Amar Sharma and Rima Chhib. * ''Mr Gaayab'' – A comedy serial based on the invisible man on Zee TV Network. Starring
Joy Sengupta Joy Sengupta is an Indian film and stage actor works Bollywood cinema and Bengali cinema as well as theatre. He is best known for his debut feature, '' Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa'' (1998) directed by Govind Nihalani. Sengupta was born in Kolkat ...
. Directed by
Kushan Nandy Kanishka Kushan Nandy, (better known as Kushan Nandy) is an Indian film producer, writer and director. He produces films under the banner of the current entertainment house Movies by the Mob. He turned independent director in television, went ...
. * ''Face Off'' – An election chat show on Doordarshan. Hosted by Pritish Nandy and Javed Akhtar. Directed by Pankuj Parashar. * ''
Ek Raja Ek Rani ''Ek Raja Ek Rani'' is an Indian television series that aired in 1996 on DD Metro and later on Zee TV. The series is directed by Kushan Nandy, and stars Shekhar Suman and Bhairavi Raichura. Plot Ajay Kapoor (Shekhar Suman) is a wealthy milliona ...
'' – A romantic comedy serial on Doordarshan and Zee TV Network. Starring
Shekhar Suman Shekhar Suman (born 7 December 1962) is an Indian actor, anchor, producer, director, and singer working in the Hindi cinema. Personal life Shekhar Suman belongs to a Bihari Kayastha family . He married Alka Suman on 4 May 1983, and has a so ...
and
Bhairavi Raichura Bhairavi Raichura is an Indian television actress. She is best known for playing Kaajal Mathur in '' Hum Paanch'', and Rajni Kashyap in '' Sasural Genda Phool'' and Bhagwati Singh in ''Balika Vadhu ''Balika Vadhu'' () is an Indian soap ope ...
. Directed by Kushan Nandy. Won the Aashirwad Award for Best Actor in 1999. * ''Raj Kahani'' – A costume drama on Doordarshan. Starring R Madhavan in a double role. Directed by Kushan Nandy. * ''Khwahish'' – A behind-the-scenes look at the big bad world of fashion on Sony Television. Starring Annie Thomas. Directed by Manu Gargi. * ''Yudh'' – A daily soap opera on Doordarshan, Sun, Udaya and Jain TV. Starring Mahavir Bhullar and Lalit Tiwari. Directed by Kushan Nandy. * ''Sanjog'' – A daily show based on the story of an ideal Indian family. This serial crossed 250 episodes on Doordarshan National. Starring Amar Talwar, Anjana Mumtaz, Aamir Ali Malik, etc. Directed by Ajeet Kumar. * ''India−The Awakening'' – A daily show profiling achievers on Doordarshan. Hosted by Pritish Nandy. Directed by different directors. * ''Hungama Unlimited'' – A sitcom that lists the best of Hindi films and pop music. Also a countdown show to hit the number one position on Doordarshan Metro in terms of viewership ratings. Directed by different directors. * ''Heads & Tails'' – An animal rights show on Doordarshan. Hosted by Maneka Gandhi. Directed by Umesh Agarwal. Won the RAPA Award and was nominated for the Screen Videocon and Pinnacle Awards. * ''Entertainment Now'' – A daily entertainment news show on Doordarshan. Hosted by Sagarika Sonie. Directed by Subir Dhar and Amitabh Tripathi. * ''Chup Bas Lakshya'' – PNC's foray into regional Marathi television on Doordarshan Sahyadri. Starring Laxmikant Berde. Directed by Bhaskar Jadhav. * ''New Horizons'' – An alternative lifestyle show on Doordarshan and Zee TV Network. Hosted by Maneka Gandhi. Won a Screen Videocon Award. * ''Fiscal Fitness: The Pritish Nandy Business Show'' – A business show on Zee TV Network. Directed by Umesh Agarwal. * ''
Four More Shots Please! ''Four More Shots Please!'' is an Indian comedy-drama streaming television series on Amazon Prime Video directed by Anu Menon and Nupur Asthana. The series follows the story of four unapologetically flawed women (two in their 30s and two in thei ...
'' – An Amazon Original on Prime Video. Created by Rangita Pritish-Nandy. Produced by Pritish Nandy. Won an International Emmy nomination. * ''Rat-a-tat'' in ''Unpaused'' – An Amazon Original anthology on Prime Video. Produced by Pritish Nandy and Rangita Pritish Nandy * ''
Modern Love Mumbai ''Modern Love Mumbai'' is an Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy anthology series produced by Pritish Nandy that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 13 May 2022. Its episodes run from 40 to 45 minutes. ''Modern Love Mumbai'' is the Mumbai cha ...
'' – An Amazon Original on Prime Video featuring six films. Produced by Pritish Nandy. * '' The Royals'' - A Netflix Original on Netflix. Created by Rangita Pritish Nandy and Ishita Pritish Nandy. Produced by Pritish Nandy.


Films


Awards

*Padma Shri 1977 received from the President of India *Karmaveer Puraskaar 200

*International Humanitarian Award at the Genesis Awards 2012 in Hollywood, organised by the Humane Society of the United States. *Bangladesh Liberation War Award received from the Prime Minister of Bangladesh


Selected works


Books of poems

* Of Gods & Olives (Calcutta/ Mexico City, 1967) 32pp, Writers Workshop (publisher), Writers' Workshop * On Either Side of Arrogance (Calcutta, 1968) 32pp, Writers Workshop (publisher), Writers' Workshop * I Hand You in Turn My Nebbuk Wreath (Calcutta, 1968) 16pp, Dialogue/ Writers Workshop (publisher), Writers' Workshop * From the Outer Bank of the Brahmaputra (New York, 1969) 38pp, New Rivers Press * Masks to be Interpreted in Terms of Messages (Calcutta, 1971) 48pp, Writers Workshop (publisher), Writers' Workshop * Madness is the Second Stroke (Calcutta, 1972) 56pp, Dialogue * The Poetry of Pritish Nandy: Collected Poems (New Delhi, 1973) * Riding the Midnight River: Selected Poems (New Delhi/ London, 1974) 144pp, Arnold Heinemann * Dhritarashtra Downtown: Zero (Calcutta, 1974) * Lonesong Street (Calcutta, 1975) 32pp, Poets Press * In Secret Anarchy (Calcutta, 1976) 38pp, United Writers * The Nowhere Man (Calcutta, 1976) 32pp, Arnold Heinemann * A Stranger Called I (Calcutta, 1976) 48pp, Kavita/Arnold Heinemann * Tonight, This Savage Rite/ With Kamala Das (New Delhi, 1977) 55pp, Arnold Heinemann * Anywhere is Another Place (Calcutta, 1979) 48pp, Arnold Heinemann * Pritish Nandy 30 (Calcutta, 1980) 30pp, Kavita/Arnold Heinemann * The Rainbow Last Night (New Delhi, 1981) 48pp, Arnold Heinemann * Again (New Delhi, 2010) 104pp, Rupa Publications * Stuck on 1/Forty (New Delhi, 2012) 124pp, Amaryllis * Tonight, This Savage Rite (New Delhi, 2014) 124pp HarperCollins


Book of interviews

* Peerless Minds: A Celebration Interviews with Thirty Incredible Indians (New Delhi, 2019) 400pp, HarperCollins, also a Special Collectors Edition limited to 500 copies


Verse play

* Rites for a Plebeian Statue (Calcutta, 1970),
Writers Workshop Writing workshop may refer to: *Writing circle, a group of like-minded writers supporting each others' work * Writers workshop (activity), a workshop format for critiquing and revising work **Authors' conference or writers' conference, a type of c ...
,
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 ...
.


Short stories

* Some Friends (New Delhi, 1979), Arnold Heinemann


Translations

* The Complete Poems of Samar Sen (Calcutta, 1970) 192pp, Writers Workshop * Subhas Mukhopadhyay: Poet of the People (Calcutta, 1970) 24pp, Dialogue * Poems from Bangladesh (Calcutta, 1971) Dialogue * The Prose Poems of Lokenath Bhattacharya (Calcutta, 1971) Dialogue * Bangladesh: Voice of a New Nation (Calcutta/ London/ New York, 1972) * Shesh Lekha: The Last Poems of Rabindranath Tagore (Calcutta, 1973) Dialogue * Modern Bengali Poetry (Chicago, 1974) Mahfil, University of Chicago * The Flaming Giraffe: Poems by Sunil Gangopadhyay (Calcutta, 1975) Dialogue * Songs of Mirabai with drawings by Rabin Mondal (New Delhi, 1975) Vikas Publishing * The Poetry of Kaifi Azmi (Calcutta, 1975) 32pp, Poets Press/Arnold Heinemann * Krishna, Krishna: Poems by Kabir (New Delhi, 1976) Vikas Publishing * The Lord is my Shepherd (New Delhi, 1982) Vikas Publishing * Untamed Heart: Poems by Bhartrhari with drawings by Samir Mondal (New Delhi, 1994) Rupa Publications * Unchained Melody: Poems by Amaru with drawings by Samir Mondal (New Delhi, 1994) Rupa Publications * Careless Whispers: Sanskrit Love Poetry with drawings by M.F Husain (New Delhi, 1994) Rupa Publications * The Isha Upanishad: illustrated by Sunandini Banerjee (Calcutta, 2013) Seagull Books


Poetry recordings

* Lonesong Street, with Ananda Shankar (EMI, 1977) * Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, with Shantanu Moitra (Virgin, 2004)


Bengali translation

* Pritish Nandyr Kobita translated by Amarendra Chakravarti (Calcutta, 1975) * Pritish Nandyr Kobita translated by Shakti Chattopadhyay (Calcutta, 1978)


Anthologies edited

* Indian Poetry in English: 1947–1972 (Calcutta, 1972) Oxford & IBH * Indian Poetry in English Today (New Delhi, 1973) * Modern Indian Poetry (New Delhi/ London, 1974) * Modern Indian Love Poetry (New Delhi, 1974) Vikas Publishing * Modern Indian Love Stories (New Delhi, 1974) Vikas Publishing * Strangertime (New Delhi, 1976) Sterling Publishers


Appearances in the following poetry Anthologies

* ''The Golden Treasure of
Writers Workshop Writing workshop may refer to: *Writing circle, a group of like-minded writers supporting each others' work * Writers workshop (activity), a workshop format for critiquing and revising work **Authors' conference or writers' conference, a type of c ...
Poetry'' (2008) ed. by Rubana Huq and published by
Writers Workshop Writing workshop may refer to: *Writing circle, a group of like-minded writers supporting each others' work * Writers workshop (activity), a workshop format for critiquing and revising work **Authors' conference or writers' conference, a type of c ...
,
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 ...


References


External links

*
Pritish Nandy Communications

Writer's Workshop India
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nandy, Pritish 1951 births 2025 deaths Indian male poets Poets from Maharashtra Indian newspaper editors Presidency University, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni La Martiniere Calcutta alumni Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra People from Bhagalpur English-language poets from India Bengali people 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian male writers