- Bhabendra Nath Saikia
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Bhabendra Nath Saikia Born Nagaon, Assam, India Died Guwahati, Assam, India Education [Phd in Physics, Univ of London. Honorary Phd in Literature, Dibrugarh University, Assam, India] Occupation Teacher, Filmmaker, Writer Spouse Preeti Saikia Website http://www.bhabensaikia.com Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia (Assamese: ড˚ ভবেন্দ্ৰ নাথ শইকীয়া) was a novelist, short story writer and film director from Assam. He had a PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of London and later taught at Gauhati University. He won many literary awards, including Sahitya Academy (1976), and was also recognised with the Padma Shri.
Contents
Biography
Bhabendra Nath Saikia was born on February 20, 1932 at Nagaon town. He passed Matriculation Examination in 1948 in first division He secured first division in Intermediate Examination in Science in the year 1950 He passed B.Sc. Examination in 1952 with honors in Physics from the Cotton College of Gauhati University He completed his M.Sc. Examination in 1955-56 in Physics from the Presidency college of Calcutta University .He obtained Ph.D. Degree in physics in 1961 from the University of London. He also obtained Diploma of Imperial College (D.I.C.) of Science & Technology, London in 1961. He worked as reader in Physics in Gauhati University. He became a Member, Sangeet Natak Akademi, India.
Dr. Saikia died on August 13, 2003 in Guwahati and is survived by his wife Preeti Saikia, and Houston based daughters Dr. Sangeeta Saikia and Rashmi Saikia. His brother, Dr. Nagen Saikia passed away in May, 2011. His dream project Aarohan is now functioning successfully at Guwahati, Assam.
Works
He is recognized as one of the top ranking writers of Assam. Many stories have been translated into English, Bengali, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati etc. He had also written a large number of plays for All India Radio (AIR). The plays Kolahal, Durbhiksha and Itihaas were taken up by the AIR as national plays. Kolahal was selected for broadcast from foreign centers. He has been associated actively with the stage as a playwrit and director. He has written many plays for 'Mobile Theatre' of Assam, and a number of One Act Plays.
He had directed eight feature films. These films have been screened at International Film Festivals held at various places such as Cannes, Madras, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Bangalore, Calcutta, Karlovy Vary (Czechoslovakia), Nantes (France), Valladolid (Spain), Algiers (Algeria), Pyong Yong (North Korea), Sydney, Munich, Montreal and Toronto. Has also directed one episode of a Doordarshan series on Rabindra Nath Tagore's stories in Hindi. Seven out of his eight films have been selected for Indian Panorama Section of the International Film Festival of India. • He received the Sahitya Akademi (India) Award in 1976, the Rajat Kamal Award of the Government of India for the film Sandhyarag in 1978, Anirban in 1981,Agnisnan in 1985, Kolahal in 1988, Sarothi in 1992, Abartan in 1994 and for Itihaas in 1996. He was adjudged as one of the "Twenty one Great Assamese Persons of the twentieth century" in a literary weekly news magazines of Assam.
Feature films
Assamese
- Sandhyarag (Rajat Kamal award, 1978, Cannes Film Festival)
- Anirban (Rajat Kamal award, 1981)
- Agnisnan (Rajat Kamal award, Best screenplay - India)
- Kolahal (Rajat Kamal award)
- Sarothi (Rajat Kamal award)
- Abartan (Rajat Kamal award)
- ltihaas (Rajat Kamal award)
Hindi
- Kalsandhya
Novels
- Antarip [ the cape]
- Ramyabhumi [ the accoland]
- Atankar Shekhot [ at the end of the panic]
Short story collections
- Prahari [ the watchman]
- Sendur [Sindur]
- Gahabar [the cave]
- Srinkhal [the chain]
- Upakantha [ nearby place]
- Ai bandaror abeli [Afternoon of this port ]
- Brindabon [brindabon-name of a person ]
- Taranga [ wave ]
- Sandhya Bhraman[evening walk ]
- Galpa aru Shilpa [ Story and art]
- Akash [the sky]
Plays
- Romyabhumi
- Neelakontho
- Mahaaranya
- Deenabandhu
- Paandulipi
- Aamrapaali
- Aranyat Godhuli
- Monikut
- Gahbor
- Gadhuli
- Amrit
- Barnamaalaa
- Bandeexaal
- Paramaananda
- Xubho-xongbaad
- Bixkumbha
- Andhakup
- Digambar
- Swarnajayanti
- Swargar Duwar
- Raamdhenu
- Xataabdee
- Xamudra Manthan
- Junak Rati [unfinished]
- Brindabon
- Janmabhumi
- Pratibimba
- Ejaak jonakir jilmil [one act play]
Children's books
- Maramar Deuta [Dear Father]
- Tumalukor bhal houk [May you all prosper]
- Xantaxista Hristopusto Mahadusta [The quiet one, the physically fit one, and the immensely notorious one. All India Radio children's play on 2 brothers, a friend, and a sister]
- Mahadustor Dustobuddhi [Mischief]
- Maram [Love]
Collection of essays
- Xekh Pristha [vol-1]
- Xekh Pristha [vol-2]
- Xekh Pristha [vol-3]
- Xekh Pristha [vol-4]
Autobiographies
- Jeebon Britta
- Jeebon Rekha
- Mur hoishab, mur koishur [my childhood, my teenage]
Humor books
- Kalpalukor Kahini
- Xampadokor Kuthalit
Magazines
- Prantik - He was the founder editor of this Assamese magazine published fortnightly from Guwahati since 1981. It plays a vital role in the socio-political lives of the people of Assam.[citation needed]
- Xafura - He was the founder editor of this popular Assamese children's magazine.
Awards
- Assam Publication Board award (1973)
- Sahitya Akademi (1976)
- Assam valley Literary award( 1990)
- Srimanta Sankardeva Award (1998)
- Padma Shri (2001)
- Degree of D.Litt, honoris causa (2001)
- Dr. Saikia was honored posthumously with the naming of the Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia Road, in Guwahati, India
- Dr. Saikia was honored posthumously with the naming the Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia children's amusement park at the Sri. Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati, India
- Dr. Saikia was honored posthumously with the naming the Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia Library at the Sri. Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati, India
- Dr. Saikia was honored posthumously with the naming the Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia Cultural Award. The first recipient (2010) was film maker Jahnu Barua from the Chief Minister of the State, Honorable Tarun Gogoi.
Leadership
Dr. Saikia was a Member, Sangeet Natak Akademi; Member of the Executive and General Council of Sahitya Akademi; Member, Indian National Council for co-operation with UNESCO; Member, Academic Council, Gauhati University; President of Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society; Member, Advisory Body, All India Radio, Guwahati; Chairman, Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation Ltd; Member., Governing Body, North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur; Member, Governing Body, East Zone Cultural Centre, Kolkata; Member of Court of the Gauhati University, Assam; Member, Society of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Member, Board of Trustees, National Book Trust of India.
He also worked extensively in the creation, proposal, construction, and planning of the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati, Assam, which is now a sprawling cultural center, one of its kind, and a tourist attraction for the state of Assam. He served as the first Vice President of the Kalakshetra, under the governor of Assam as the President. This center was built in the memory of Assamese cultural legend Srimanta Sankardev (1449–1568).
See also
- Assamese literature
- Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankardeva
- Jyoti Prasad Agarwala
- Bishnuprasad Rabha
- Laxminath Bezbarua
- Krishna Kanta Handique
- Bhabananda Deka
- Music of Assam
External links
- www.bhabensaikia.com - Official Website
- Farewell to you, maestro
- Complete Works of Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia
- Voice of Assam feature - citing The Assam Tribune, August 13, 2006
- Reel-life characters make a mark, The Telegraph, December 31, 2003
- Dr Saikia's death condoled, sentinelassam.com, August 26, 2003
- Epitaph for ‘Sir’, Deccan Herald, August 31, 2003
- B. N. Saikia dead, The Hindu, August 14, 2003
- IMDb filmography
- Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia Children's Welfare Trust
- The Gentle Genius is no more
- The Official Bhabendra Nath Saikia forum
- The Bhabendra Nath Saikia forum on Orkut
References
- Saikia, Bhabendra Nath. Bhabendra Nath Saikiaar Naatya Xombhaar; (Plays by Bhabendra Nath Saikia). Guwahati: Jyoti Prokashan..
National Film Award for Best Screenplay 1967–1980 Satyajit Ray (1967) · S. L. Puram Sadanandan (1968) · Pandit Anand Kumar (1969) · Puttanna Kanagal (1970) · Satyajit Ray (1971) · Tapan Sinha (1972) · Gulzar (1973) · Mrinal Sen and Ashish Burman (1974) · Satyajit Ray (1975) · no award (1976) · Vijay Tendulkar (1977) · Satyadev Dubey, Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad (1978) · T. S. Ranga and T. S. Nagabharana (1979) · Sai Paranjpye (1980)
1981–2000 Mrinal Sen (1981) · K. Balachander (1982) · Mrinal Sen (1983) · G V Iyer (1984) · Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1985) · Bhabendra Nath Saikia (1986) · Budhdhadeb Dasgupta (1987) · Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1988) · Arundhati Roy (1989) · M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1990) · K. S. Sethumadhavan (1991) · M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1992) · M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1993) · Satyajit Ray (1994) · M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1995) · Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Ashok Mishra (1996) · Agathiyan (1997) · Rituparno Ghosh (1998) · Ashok Mishra (1999) · Madampu Kunjukuttan (2000)
2001–2009 Bharathiraja (2001) · Neelakanta (2002) · Aparna Sen (2003) · Gautam Ghose (2004) · Manoj Tyagi and Nina Arora (2005) · Prakash Jha, Manoj Tyagi and Shridhar Raghavan (2006) · Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra (2007) · Feroz Abbas Khan (2008) · Sachin Kundalkar (2009)
2010–present P. F. Mathews and Harikrishna (Original Screenplay); Gopal Krishan Pai and Girish Kasaravalli (Adapted Screenplay); Pandiraj (Dialogues) (2010) · Vetrimaaran (Original Screenplay); Anant Mahadevan and Sanjay Pawar (Adapted Screenplay); Sanjay Pawar (Dialogues) (2011)
Categories:- 1932 births
- 2003 deaths
- People from Assam
- Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award
- Recipients of the Padma Shri
- Assamese writers
- University of Calcutta alumni
- Alumni of Imperial College London
- Alumni of the University of London
- People from Nagaon
- Indian screenwriters
- Assamese-language film directors
- Writers from Northeast India
- Gauhati University faculty
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