Jyoti Prasad Agarwala
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala (17 June, 1903 – 17 January, 1951) is an Assamese cultural icon. Called as the Rupkonwar, Agarwala was an Assamese poet, writer and film maker from Assam. He had also wrote many plays and around 300 songs. Jyoti Prasad Agarwala directed and produced Joymoti, the first Assamese film. That’s why he is also known as the founder of Assamese cinema. Jyoti Prasad Agarwala’s death anniversary (January 17) is celebrated all over Assam as Silpi divas (Artists’ Day).
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala Biography:
Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was born on June 17, 1903 in Tamulbari Tea Estate, Tezpur. Her father was Paramananda Agarwala and mother was Kiranmoyee Agarwala. Jyoti Prasad completed his schooling from various schools in Assam and Calcutta. He matriculated in 1921 and went to Edinburgh, England to study Economics in 1926. But he left Edinburgh without completing his studies and went to Germany for learning film-making.
Returning home, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala got involved in Indian independence movement. Due to his involvement in the movement, Jyoti Prasad was imprisoned for 15 months in 1932. After release from jail, Agarwala decided to start a film based on a play by Laxminath Bezbarua. He established Chitraban Studio, the first film studio in Assam, at the Bholaguri Tea Estate. The filming of Joymoti started in 1933 and was finally released in 1935. His film Joymoti was a tale of Ahom princess Sati Joymoti, who was imprisoned and tortured till death by Ahom swargadeo (king) because she refused to betray her husband.
In 1936, Agarwala tied the knot with Devajani Chaliha. His second film Indramalati was released on 1939. In 1941, he started to actively participate in Indian independence movement. Later in 1942, in order to avoid British repression, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala had to go underground. The Rupkonwar of Assam died of cancer on January 17, 1951
Works of Jyoti Prasad Agarwala:
Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala has around 300 songs, 9 plays, two films and two poetry collections in his name. His songs are considered as a separate genre in Assamese music and are called as Jyoti Xongit. The names of his plays are Sont Kunwori, Rupalim, Karengor Ligiri, Nimati Konya, Sonpakhilee, Kanaklata, Sundar Konwar and Lobhita.
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