Bijon Bhattacharya (17 July 1917–19 January 1978) was a prominent India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n theatre and film personality from Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

.

Bijon was born in 1917 at Faridpur

Faridpur District

Faridpur is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Faridpur District has a population of over 1.7 million people and is situated on the banks of the Padma river . It is bordered by Madaripur, Narail, Rajbari, Magura, Shariatpur, Gopalgonj, Dhaka and Manikganj...

 (now in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

)in a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 family, and was early a witness to the destitution and penury of the peasantry of that land. He became a member of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA

Ipta

IPTA can refer to:* Indian People's Theatre Association* International Pulsar Timing Array...

), a left-leaning group of artists who aimed at reflect the suffering of the poor in their work, so as to make a social impact for the betterment of that section of society.

One of Bijon's most celebrated plays, Nabanna

Nabanna

Nabanna is a Bengali harvest celebration usually celebrated with food and dance and music. It's a festival of food; many local preparations of Bengali cuisine like pithe are cooked and offered.-Celebration:...

(Harvest), based on Bengal famine of 1943

Bengal famine of 1943

The Bengal famine of 1943 struck the Bengal. Province of pre-partition India. Estimates are that between 1.5 and 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease, out of Bengal’s 60.3 million population, half of them dying from disease after food became available in December 1943 As...

 was an IPTA production, and an inspiration of the film Dharti Ke Lal

Dharti Ke Lal

Dharti Ke Lal is a 1946 Hindi film and the first directorial venture of the noted film director Khwaja Ahmad Abbas...

, which he co-wrote with film's director Khwaja Ahmad Abbas

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas , popularly known as K. A. Abbas, was an Indian film director, novelist, screenwriter, and a journalist in the Urdu, Hindi and English languages...

, another IPTA

Ipta

IPTA can refer to:* Indian People's Theatre Association* International Pulsar Timing Array...

 member.

He died on 19 January 1978.

Personal life

Bijon Bhattacharya married the Jnanpith award

Jnanpith Award

The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India. Along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country...

 winning Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

 writer, Mahasweta Devi

Mahasweta Devi

Mahasweta Devi is an Indian social activist and writer.- Biography :Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 in Dhaka, to literary parents in a Hindu Brahmin family. Her father Manish Ghatak was a well known poet and novelist of the Kallol era, who used the pseudonym Jubanashwa...

. Their only son Nabarun Bhattacharya

Nabarun Bhattacharya

Nabarun Bhattacharya is an Indian Bengali writer deeply committed to a revolutionary and radical aesthetics. He was born at Baharampur , West Bengal...

, a noted Bengali

Bengali language

Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

writer, was born in 1948.

Dramas

• Agun
• Nabanna (Fresh Harvest) (1944)
• Jabanbandi (Confession)
• Kalanka
• Mara Chand (Dead Moon) (1951)
• Gotrantar (Change of Lineage) (1959)
• Debi Garjan (Shouting of the Goddess) (1966)
• Garbhabati Janani (Pregnant Mother) (1969)
• Krishnapaksha
• Aj Basanta
• Chalo Sagare
• Lash Ghuirya Jauk