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Shankar Ray Choudhuri | |
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Chander Pahar character | |
![]() A portrait of Shankar from Chander Pahar novel. | |
First appearance | Chander Pahar (1937) |
Last appearance | Amazon Obhijaan (2017) |
Created by | Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay |
Portrayed by | Dev |
In-universe information | |
Full name | Shankar Ray Choudhuri |
Nickname | Shankar |
Occupation | Explorer |
Family | Unnamed Mother Unnamed Father |
Relatives | Diego Alvarez (Friend) |
Religion | Hinduism |
Home | Bengal Presidency, British India |
Nationality | British Indian |
Shankar Ray Choudhuri is a fictional character and the hero of the novel of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Chander Pahar , a young Bengali man from a village in undivided Bengal, India. He is a smart, brave person who has a penchant for adventures. [1] A franchise has been adapted from the novel which features Shankar.
Shankar is an ordinary young Bengali boy, from a nondescript village of Bengal. He is a 20-year-old youth, recently graduated from college and due to financial difficulties in the family, was about to take up a job in a jute mill of Shyamnagar, a prospect he absolutely loathes. [2]
Since childhood, geography has been his pet subject; he has wanted to follow the footsteps of renowned explorers like Livingstone, Mungo Park, and Marco Polo, all of whom he has read about. He yearns for adventure, wild lands, forests and animals and the continent of Africa. By a stroke of luck, he secures a job as a clerk in Uganda Railway through an acquaintance already holding a post there and joyously rushes to Africa without a second thought.
There, he spends a few months as a part of a company laying rail tracks but soon encounters the first of many dangers of pre-World War I Africa: man-eating lions who claim the lives of a few of his new-found friends in Africa. Later he takes up a job as station master in a desolate station amidst the Veldts. Here his presence of mind enables him to have a narrow escape from another hazard in Africa: the deadly black mamba. While at this post, Shankar one day encounters, rescues and nurses Diego Alvarez, a middle-aged Portuguese explorer and gold/diamond prospector. Alvarez's arrival becomes a turning point in Shankar's life. While recuperating, Alvarez narrated his earlier exploits in Africa with his friend Jim Carter. Lured by a priceless, uncut yellow diamond gifted by the Chief of a Kaafi village, Alvarez and Carter had resolved to find the cave of these yellow diamonds, located on the Mountain of the Moon- Chander Pahar- in the Richtersveld, which was believed to be guarded by the mythical monster, the Bunyip. The explorers set off, much against the villagers' advice, braved the dense jungle and hostile environment but met with disaster- for Carter was gruesomely killed, supposedly by the Bunyip.
Shankar, highly inspired by Alvarez's exploits, resigns from his job and accompanies Alvarez as they decide to venture out once more and find the mines. They meet with innumerable hardships, a raging volcano being the greatest challenge. But the volcano was unknown to the world outside, thus making Shankar and Alvarez its first discoverers. Eventually, they get lost in the forests where Alvarez suffers death at the hands of a mysterious monster, the same that had taken Carter's life, the Bunyip.
A grieved and demoralised Shankar sets out to attempt to reach civilization. He finds the Bunyip's cave and the diamond mines by accident. He enters the cave but eventually gets lost. With great difficulty, he gets out, marking his way with "pebbles" and taking some back with him as memento, not knowing each is a piece of uncut diamond. He finds the remains of the Italian explorer, Attilio Gatti, and learns that the cave he found earlier really was the diamond mine. Gatti, as Shankar learns from a note by him, had uncut diamonds in his boots. The note said that whoever reads the note can take the diamonds as long as he buries his skeleton, with Christian rites. Shankar does so, and keeps the old diamonds. He becomes lost in the deserts of Kalahari and nearly dies of thirst. He is rescued by a survey team, and taken to a hospital in Salisbury, Rhodesia, from where he sets sail for home. Before going back he wrote his account in a newspaper which earned him quite some money. In that he named the volcano after Alvarez. He ends the book saying that he will return to that cave one day with a large team, and continue the legacy of Alvarez, Carter and Gatti. [3] [4]
In the 2013 film Chander Pahar and 2016 film Amazon Obhijaan Shankar's character is portrayed by Bengali actor Dev. [5] [6]
Shankar Roy Chowdhury appeared in the 2014 graphic novel Moon Mountain as the protagonist. [7] [8] [9] [10]
The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.
Mountains of the Moon is a legendary mountain or mountain range in east Africa at the source of the Nile River. Various identifications have been made in modern times, the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo being the most celebrated.
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay ; 12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel Pather Panchali, Aparajito (Undefeated), Chander Pahar and Aranyak.
Syed Waliullah was a Bangladeshi novelist, short-story writer and playwright. He was notable for his debut novel, Lalsalu. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award (1961), Adamjee Prize (1965), Ekushey Padak (1984) and Bangladesh National Film for Best Story (2001).
Mountains of the Moon may refer to:
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.
Shaktipada Rajguru was an Indian Bengali writer. Several of his novels have been adapted for the screen including the Ritwik Ghatak-directed Meghe Dhaka Tara and the Shakti Samanta-directed Amanush. His stories have been translated into Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam.
The Ananda Puraskar is an award for Bengali literature awarded annually by the ABP Group to writers using Bengali, usually from West Bengal, India.
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Deepak Adhikari, known by his stage name Dev, is an Indian actor, producer, singer and screenwriter, known for his works in Bengali cinema and more recently, a politician. He owns the production house Dev Entertainment Ventures.
Kamaleswar Mukherjee, M.B.B.S. is an Indian film director, actor, and physician known for his work in Bengali-language films. Films directed by him include Chander Pahar (2013), Meghe Dhaka Tara (2013), Amazon Obhijaan (2017) Cockpit (2017).
Chander Pahar is a 2013 Indian Bengali-language action-adventure film based on Chander Pahar by Bengali novelist Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, directed by Kamaleshwar Mukherjee and produced by Mahendra Soni and Shrikant Mohta under the banner of their production house Shree Venkatesh Films. It features Bengali actor Dev in the lead role as Shankar. This is the first collaboration between Dev and Mukherjee, the latter having made only two films before: Uro Chithi and Meghe Dhaka Tara.
Diego Alvarez is a fictional character in the Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay novel Chander Pahar. He is a Portuguese explorer and Gold / Diamond Prospector. He acts as a friend and mentor to Shankar Ray Choudhuri, and together they try to explore the deepest reaches of Richtersveld for the Mountain of the Moon. His name isn't really Portuguese but Spanish, the correct form in Portuguese would have been Diogo Álvares.
Tarun Kumar Chatterjee was an Indian actor who is known for his exclusive work in Bengali cinema. In most of his films, his role as a supporting actor gave him huge appreciation from critics and audience.
Adarsha Hindu Hotel is a Bengali novel written by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. The novel was first published in 1940.
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.
Amazon Obhijaan is a 2017 Indian Bengali-language action-adventure film written and directed by Kamaleshwar Mukherjee and produced by Shrikant Mohta and Mahendra Soni under the banner of Shree Venkatesh Films. Starring Dev in the lead role of Shankar, it is the sequel to 2013 film Chander Pahar and the second installment of Chander Pahar film series. The film revolves around Shankar, an adventurer who, along with a lady and her father, travels the Amazon in search of the City of Gold, El Dorado.
Soukarya Ghosal is an Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, illustrator and music composer. He is widely considered for his work in Rainbow Jelly, a food fantasy film for the children in Bengali Cinema. His first feature film was Pendulum, bagged three awards in the 4th Mirchi Music Awards Bangla 2014 by Radio Mirchi.
Avijatrik is a 2021 Bengali-language drama film, written and directed by Subhrajit Mitra and produced by Gaurang Jalan, co-produced by Madhur Bhandarkar. The screenplay is based on the novel Aparajito by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. The film released under the banner of Gaurang Films and Bhandarkar Entertainment. This is a sequel and concluding part of the Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy.