Awaara Maseeha: Who Is Bollywood’s Favourite Writer? – Outlook India
There was a sadhu standing within the Muzaffarpur workplace of the favored journal, Bharatvarsha. The dishevelled sanyasi, in his flawless Hindi, demanded to be equipped with pen, some ink, and paper. His personal inventory had depleted. He was carrying a pocket book, and the pages of that pocket book have been crammed with numerous tales which he wrote throughout his travels. Pramathanath Battacharya, the proprietor of the journal and an completed author himself, was amused. A bit prodding revealed his title. That “sanyasi” was known as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.
Whereas rising up in Bhagalpur, Sarat Chandra was deeply influenced by the work of Victorian-era novelists like Charles Dickens, Marie Corelli and Mrs. Henry Wooden. He was so enamoured by British writers that after them, he adopted a pseudonym known as “St.C. Lara”. St. referred to his first title Sarat, and C. in fact is a nod to his center title Chandra. It was typically in Bhagalpur that he was rising up, however the household did transfer round a bit. Within the rising up years, Sarat appeared to have inherited a deep love of literature, which step by step morphed right into a love of storytelling. Together with his mom passing away, a teenaged Sarat Chandra needed to contend together with his father Motilal Chattopadhyay, a fairly gruff gentleman who like all self-respecting fathers these days, hardly ever expressed himself. Sarat had constructed a literary membership known as Sahitya Chakra together with his pals, the place he typically learn out the tales he was writing. He additionally cherished theatre and sometimes tailored the performs he was watching into his tales.
It was a household of legal professionals he was born into, and so they anticipated him to observe their footsteps. He sat by the F.A. Examination (10+2 in these days) however writing didn’t enable a lot time to review, so he failed. Good riddance, the boy thought and commenced to spend much more time writing and studying. He additionally began a literary journal known as Chhaya throughout this time. However Motilal believed his son needed to do one thing for a dwelling. The writing was no occupation! He obtained a him a job on the zamindar’s property, however by this time Sarat’s coronary heart was set. He couldn’t maintain on to the job. A quarrel with Motilal ensued, and Sarat left residence. This was when he began touring as a hermit, which took him to Muzaffarpur, amongst different locations.
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Upon listening to about his father’s demise, Sarat returned to his village. Seek for work took him to his uncle Upendranath’s doorstep. Upendranath’s brother Lalmohan was engaged within the court docket. Sarat obtained work translating authorized paperwork. He nonetheless continued to put in writing as if in a frenzy. He joined a writing competitors beneath his uncle’s title, and gained the primary place. However the meagre wage of thirty rupees which he was incomes didn’t maintain loads of promise. Sure accounts of his life point out a girl who he shared a bond with, a widow. Sarat by no means spoke of her by title, however he alluded to her in a number of letters and different writings. Legend has it that this girl insisted that Sarat ought to strive his luck at Rangoon, like many kids on the time did.
Sarat Chandra began a brand new life in Rangoon, and it was right here that he married Shanti Devi. Quickly, the couple have been blessed with their first little one. Inside only a 12 months’s time, Shanti Devi and her little child have been consumed by the Nice Plague of 1908.
In two years, Sarat obtained married once more, this time to a widow. They remained married to one another – and childless – until the top of his days. It was after his second marriage that Sharat really flourished as a literary genius. His new bride Hironmoyee was illiterate however supplied the gasoline for his artistic output. Saratchandra was in his late 30s. In an unimaginable burst of prolificity, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay produced a few of his finest works within the subsequent 25 years. Even whereas in Rangoon, in simply the primary two years he churned out Ramer Shumoti, Bindur Chhele, Naarir Mulyo and Charitraheen. Virtually all of those books had formidable girls characters, and the male characters appeared to pale as compared. This remained an indicator of Sarat’s writing all through.
Future introduced him again to India round 1917, and he lived for some time close to Baje Shibpur, Howrah. A number of years later, within the 20s, Sarat Chandra’s work was tailored for the primary time. Sisir Kumar Bhaduri, one of many founding fathers of recent Bengali theatre, tailored Sarat’s story Shoroshi for the stage. Sisir was additionally the primary to deliver his work to cinema, which was an rising medium. Andhare Alo (1922) was a silent movie, directed by Sisir Kumar Bhaduri and Naresh Mitra. Inside six years, Naresh Mitra made the primary adaptation of Devdas (1928). This was adopted by Charitraheen (1931). For sure, filmmakers in Bengal had struck gold with Sarat Chandra variations. They have been all hits, and Sarat Chandra continued to put in writing by the 20s and early 30s, creating work that was groundbreaking however “easy” sufficient to ring a bell.
Pramathesh Chandra Baruah, an inheritor of the princely state of Gauripur, Assam, was experimenting with a brand new kind. He was tinkering with a brand new cinematic format known as the “talkie”, It was Baruah who made the primary “talkie” adaptation of Devdas in 1935. The movie was in Bengali with Baruah enjoying the title position. The movie was a rage, and he made a Hindi model with Kundan Lal Saigal enjoying Devdas this time. The 12 months was 1936. It was a fair larger hit and made a star out of Ok.L. Saigal. The crowds went berserk. The very subsequent 12 months, in 1937 – a Tamil model got here out. Kuchipudi dance exponent and filmmaker Vedantam Raghavaiah made a Telugu/ Tamil bilingual in 1953, which had Telugu famous person Akkineni Nageswara Rao enjoying the enduring position. The movie grew to become a milestone in south Indian cinema. P.C. Baruah’s cinematographer, a younger Bengali known as Bimal Roy, made his personal model in 1955, starring Dilip Kumar within the titular position. Devdas, a jolted, ill-fated lover with a penchant for self-harm, had change into the darling of the plenty.
Devdas has been made in Bengali (India and Bangladesh), Telugu, Tamil, Assamese and Malayalam. There was even an Urdu model made in Pakistan, a movie that was supposedly a “tribute to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bimal Roy and The Nice Dilip Kumar”, however the lead actor Nadeem Shah saved aping Shah Rukh Khan, who featured in a much-maligned-but-loved adaptation by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2002. Even Anurag Kashyap, who, very similar to Sarat himself, disliked the story, filmed his personal tackle the story known as Dev D in 2009. Bimal Roy’s protege Gulzar deliberate an adaptation with Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Sharmila Tagore however it by no means got here to fruition. Gulzar finally did adapt Sarat Chandra’s story Pondit Moshai as Khushboo (1975). Basu Chatterjee filmed three variations: Swami (1977), Apne Paraye (1980) and Zevar (1987). Bimal Roy directed as many as three variations, together with Parineeta (1953) and Biraj Bahu (1954). Hrishikesh Mukherjee made Majhli Didi (1950). There have been quite a few Telugu superhits starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao, and Tamil movies like Manamalai (1958), Maalaiyitta Mangai (1958), and Kaanal Neer (1961).
Suchitra Sen and Dilip Kumar in Devdas.
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, who wrote in Bengali, occurs to be Hindi cinema’s most ceaselessly tailored author. Hindi author Vishnu Prabhakar wrote a biography known as Awara Maseeha, which was an enormous hit amongst Hindi literature followers. This, together with profitable Hindi translations of Sarat Chandra over time have created the impression that Devdas and Parineeta are authentic Hindi novels. The same state of affairs existed in Kerala, the place Malayali poet Dr. Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup aka O.N.V. Kurup as soon as mentioned, “Sarat Chandra’s title is cherished as dearly because the names of eminent Malayalam novelists.” The IMDB credit score of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay as author stands at 77 movies. No different author, not even Shakespeare has been tailored this ceaselessly for Indian screens.
Curiously, Sarat Chandra himself didn’t suppose an excessive amount of of Devdas when he wrote it. He felt a bit of ashamed of it. He wrote it whereas he was in Rangoon. When his buddy Pramathanath Bhattacharya tried to persuade him to publish the novel, Sarat wrote to him thus: “Don’t even consider it! It was written in a drunken stupor. I’m ashamed of the e-book now. It’s immoral…”. However he relented finally and Devdas lastly breathed on the pages of the journal Bharatvarsha in 1917.
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