Satyendra Nath Bose was an Indian theoretical physicist and mathematician. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, in developing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 1954 by the Government of India.
Mahasweta Devi was an Indian writer in Bengali and an activist. Her notable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar. She was a leftist who worked for the rights and empowerment of the tribal people of West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India. She was honoured with various literary awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award, Jnanpith Award and Ramon Magsaysay Award along with India's civilian awards Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century. He generally wrote about the lives of Bengali family and society in cities and villages. However, his keen powers of observation, great sympathy for fellow human beings, a deep understanding of human psychology, an easy and natural writing style, and freedom from political biases and social prejudices enable his writing to transcend barriers and appeal to all Indians. He remains the most popular, translated, and adapted Indian author of all time.
Utpal Dutt was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little Theatre Group" in 1949. This group enacted many English, Shakespearean and Brecht plays, in a period now known as the "Epic theatre" period, before it immersed itself completely in highly political and radical theatre. His plays became an apt vehicle for the expression of his Marxist ideologies, visible in socio-political plays such as Kallol (1965), Manusher Adhikar, Louha Manob (1964), Tiner Toloar and Maha-Bidroha. He also acted in over 100 Bengali and Hindi films in a career spanning 40 years, and remains most known for his roles in films such as Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome (1969), Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk (1991), Gautam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi (1992) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's breezy Hindi comedies such as Gol Maal (1979) and Rang Birangi (1983). He also did the role of a sculptor, Sir Digindra Narayan, in the episode Seemant Heera of Byomkesh Bakshi on Doordarshan in 1993, shortly before his death.
Agantuk is a 1991 Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray. Notable for being Ray's last film, it was based on one of his own short stories, Atithi. A joint Indo-French production, it received financial backing from companies such as Gérard Depardieu's DD Productions and Canal+.
Chander Pahar is a Bengali adventure novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and published in 1937. The novel follows the adventures of a young Bengali man in the forests of Africa. The novel is one of the most-loved adventure novels in the Bengali literature and is one of Bibhutibhushan's most popular works. It spawned a media franchise.
Mani Sankar Mukherjee is an Indian writer in the Bengali language, who also served as the Sheriff of Kolkata. He grew up in Howrah district of West Bengal.
Annada Shankar Ray was an Indian poet and essayist in Bengali. He also wrote some Odia poetry.
Buddhadeva Bose, also spelt Buddhadeb Bosu, was an Indian Bengali writer of the 20th century. Frequently referred to as a poet, he was a versatile writer who wrote novels, short stories, plays and essays in addition to poetry. He was an influential critic and editor of his time. He is recognised as one of the five poets who moved to introduce modernity into Bengali poetry. It is said that since Rabindranath Tagore, there has not been a more versatile talent in Bengali literature.
Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev, also spelled Herasim Steppanovich Lebedeff, was a Russian adventurer, linguist, pioneer of Bengali theatre, translator, musician and writer. He was a pioneer of Indology.
Kunal Basu is an Indian author of English fiction who has written five novels – The Opium Clerk (2001), The Miniaturist (2003), Racists (2006), The Yellow Emperor's Cure (2011) Kalkatta (2015) and Sarojini’s Mother (2020). The title story of his only collection of short stories, The Japanese Wife (2008), was made into a film by the Indian filmmaker Aparna Sen. Basu has also written four Bengali novels – Rabi-Shankar (2016), Bairer Dorja (2017), Tejoswini O Shabnam (2018) and Angel(2020)
Chowronghee is a 1968 Indian Bengali drama film by Pinaki Bhushan Mukherjee, starring Uttam Kumar and Subhendu Chatterjee who played the lead role and Biswajit Chatterjee, Supriya Devi and Anjana Bhowmick in supporting role. The music of the film composed by Ashima Bhattachariya who also produced this film. The film is based on a Bengali novel of the same name by Shankar and was a huge hit in its own right. The film is regarded as one of the greatest film in Bengali cinema and for Uttam's career.
Nabendu Ghosh was an Indian author in Bengali literature, and screenwriter. He has written screenplays of classic Bollywood movies like, Sujata, Bandini, Devdas, Majhli Didi, Abhimaan and Teesri Kasam. He has written stories for movies like Baap Beti, Shatranj, Raja Jani. He has also acted briefly in Do Bigha Zameen, Teesri Kasam and Lukochuri. Later in his career, he directed four movies as well.
Shesher Kabita is a novel by Rabindranath Tagore. The novel was serialised in 1928, from Bhadra to Choitro in the magazine Probashi, and was published in book form the following year. It has been translated into English as The Last Poem and Farewell song.
Dr. Shubhendu Chattopadhyay was an Indian physician and actor, who is known for acting in Bengali television and films. A contemporary of actors Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, with whom he played second hero in many films, Chatterjee with age had graduated into character roles.
Pramathanath Mitra, known widely as P. Mitra, was a Bengali Indian barrister and Indian nationalist who was among the earliest founding members of the Indian revolutionary organisation, Anushilan Samiti.
Shakespeare Sarani is a street running in the central business district of Kolkata, India, from Park Circus to Chowringhee Road. It was renamed on 24 April 1964 after William Shakespeare, to mark the fourth birth centenary of the legendary playwright. It is considered to be a high street of Kolkata with many commercial establishments, offices, shops and restaurants situated by the road. It intersects with other important roads in the CBD like Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, Camac Street, Loudon Street and Rawdon Street. Few other roads like, Little Russel Street, Wood Street, Picasso Bithi & Lord Sinha Road criss-crosses or merge into Shakespeare Sarani from North or South. West of Birla Planetarium crossing, Shakespeare Sarani becomes Queen's Way.
Sadhana Bose was an Indian actress and a dancer. She acted in movies like Meenakshi, where she played the lead.
Chander Pahar is an Indian Bengali language franchise consisting of novels, graphic novels and a film series. The original work is a 1937 novel named Chander Pahar, written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. It was translated to English in 2002 by Santanu Sinha Choudhuri and Pradeep Kumar Sinha, published by Orient Blackswan. The English version of the novel was titled Mountain of the Moon. Bandyopadhyay’s story was adapted into a Graphic novel and a live-action film in 2013. A sequel to the 2013 film Amazon Obhijaan, written by the director of the first film Kamaleswar Mukherjee, is released in Christmas 2017.
Shah Jahan Regency is an Indian Bengali drama film directed by Srijit Mukherji, under the banner of SVF Entertainment Pvt Ltd, starring Abir Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Anirban Bhattacharya, Swastika Mukherjee, Rudranil Ghosh and Rittika Sen while Rituparna Sengupta and Babul Supriyo appear in Guest appearances. The movie, based on the popular novel Chowringhee by Mani Shankar Mukherjee, was released on 18 January 2019.
