Premendra Mitra (4 September 1904 – 3 May 1988)[1][2][3] was an Indian poet, writer and film director in the Bengali language. He was also a practitioner of Bengali science fiction. His critique of humanity led him to believe that for it to survive, human beings had to "forget their differences and be united".[4]
Birth and family
Premendra Mitra was born on 4 September 1904 at his father's workplace Varanasi. His ancestral house was at Rajpur in the district of South 24 Parganas of West Bengal.[5] He belonged to the renowned Mitra family of Konnagar (in Hooghly district, West Bengal).[5][6] His father's name was Gyanendranath Mitra and his mother was Suhasini Debi. He lost his mother at an early age.[5][6]
Life
Premendra Mitra was born in Varanasi, India where his father Gyanendranath Mitra was an employee of the Indian Railways and because of that he had the opportunity to travel to many places in India. Having lost his mother, who died during his childhood, he was brought up by his grandparents in Uttar Pradesh and spent his later life in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Dhaka. He was a student of South Suburban School (Main) and enrolled for a BA[citation needed] at the Scottish Church College in Calcutta[7] which he left prematurely to study agriculture in Santiniketan with a friend of Rabindranath Tagore, Leonard Elmhirst. Because it did not hold his interest, he returned to education first on an undergraduate course in Dhaka and in 1925 at Asutosh College in Calcutta where he assisted the research of Dinesh Chandra Sen.[8] In particular, his creation of the character of GhanaDa [ঘনাদা] (meaning: 'Elder brother Ghana' in Bengali) won him public recognition.[9]
Ghanada (Original name: Ghanashyam Das) is a middle-aged resident of a mess at 72, Banamali Naskar Lane in Kolkata, West Bengal with the four young members Shibu, Shishir, Gour and Sudhir (the narrator of the stories). He claims himself to be full of thrilling experience all over the globe (and, even in Mars!) to tackle conspiracies. Also, some of the stories are about Ganado (Original name: Ghonoram Das [ঘনরাম দাস]) in South America, and Bachanram Das [বচনরাম দাস] in Agra at Medieval India, his ancestors. First Ghanada story was মশা (The Mosquito) published in 1945.[11]
Mamababu (Maternal Uncle) lived in Burma on account of his service. Original name of this middle-aged man is never stated. His expeditions are written in many novels and short-stories, such as:
Parashor Barma is a detective but he tries to be a poet.[12] First Parashor story is Goyenda Kobi Parashor [গোয়েন্দা কবি পরাশর] (Detective Poet Parashor) in 1932. Some other stories are:
Hippie Songe Parashor Barma [হিপি সঙ্গে পরাশর বর্মা] (Parashor Barma in Hippie Company)
Cluber naam kumati [ক্লাবের নাম কুমতি] (Club named Kumati)
Nilem daklo parashor Barma [নিলেম ডাকলো পরাশর বর্মা] (Parashor called an auction)
Premer Chokhe Parashor [প্রেমের চোখে পরাশর] (Parashor in the Eye of Love)
Parashor Barma O Bhanga Radio [পরাশর বর্মা ও ভাঙ্গা রেডিও] (Parashor Barma and the Broken Radio)[13]
Parashor Barma O Ashlil Boi [পরাশর বর্মা ও অশ্লীল বই] (Parashor Barma and the Book of Vulger)
Parashor Ebar Johuri [পরাশর এবার জহুরি]
Two Ghanada tales also include Parashar Barma : Parasharey Ghanaday and Ghanada Phirlen.[14]
Mejokorta is a ghost-hunter. Books featuring Mejokorta are collected in an anthology named Bhoot Shikari Mejokorta Ebong...
Publishers of Mitra's writings
Leela Majumdar translated several Ghanada tales in a volume called Adventures of Ghanada.[15]
The latest English translation of his Ghanada stories (Mosquito and Other Stories) was published by Penguin Books India in 2004.[15]
Filmography
Direction
Samadhan [সমাধান] (The Solution) Bengali,1943
Bideshini [বিদেশিনী] (The Foreigner Lady) Bengali, 1944
Path Bendhe Dilo [পথ বেঁধে দিল] (The Way Is Closed) Bengali, 1945.
Hanabari [হানাবাড়ি] (The Haunted House) Bengali, 1952: A Dhiraj Bhattacharya and Nabadwip Halder starred film, where the mystery of a terrible creature in a haunted building was solved by a detective in disguise of a beggar. This movie was also produced by Mitra.
Dui Biye [দুই বিয়ে়] (Two Marriages) Bengali, 1953: Nripati Chattopadhyay and Dhiraj Bhattyacharya acted.
