Bhisham Sahni

Born 8 August 1915

Rawalpindi, British India
Died 11 July 2003 (aged 87)
Delhi, India
Occupation Author, playwright
Period 19552003
Signature
Bhisham Sahni
FromWikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhisham Sahni (Punjabi: Hindi:
) (8 August 1915 11 July 2003) was a Hindi
writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel
and television screenplay Tamas ("Darkness"), a powerful
and passionate account of the Partition of India. He was
awarded the Padma Bhushan for literature in 1998, and
Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2002.
He was the younger brother of the noted Hindi film actor,
Balraj Sahni.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Acting in films
3 Literary works
3.1 Plays
3.2 Literary style
4 Awards
5 References
6 External links
Biography
Bhisham Sahni was born on 8 August 1915 in Rawalpindi. He earned a master's degree in English at
Government College in Lahore, and also attended Khalsa College, Amritsar.
He joined the struggle for Indian independence, and was jailed for his participation in the Quit India
Movement of 1942. Upon Partition, he and his Punjabi Hindu family were forced to move to Amritsar.
In the late 1940s, he worked with his brother as a stage performer in Mumbai with the Indian People's
Theatre Association (IPTA). In 1950, he became a lecturer in English at The Delhi College.
From 1957 to 1963, he lived in Moscow and worked as a translator from Russian to Hindi, during the period
he translated twenty-five books from Russian into Hindi, including Tolstoy's Resurrection. In addition to
those languages, Sahni was fluent in English, Urdu, Sanskrit, and Punjabi.
He was general secretary of the Progressive Writers Association, and was the founder and chairman of
'SAHMAT', an organisation promoting cross-cultural understanding, founded in memory of the murdered
theatre artist and activist Safdar Hashmi.
Acting in films
BhishamSahni - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhisham_Sahni
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Late in life, he appeared in several films, including Saeed Mirza's Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! (1984), Tamas
(1986), Kumar Shahani's Kasba (1991), Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993) and Aparna Sen's Mr.
and Mrs. Iyer (2002).
Literary works
Bhisham Sahni's epic work Tamas (Darkness, 1974) is a novel based on the riots of the 194748 Partition of
India which he witnessed at Rawalpindi.
[1]
Tamas portrays the terror-stricken Hindu exodus from Muslim
majority areas, though the overall theme remained the human-story behind the carnage. It has been
translated to English and several Indian languages including Gujarati, Malayalam, Kashmiri, and Manipuri.
Tamas won the 1975 Sahitya Akademi Award for literature and was later made into a television film in 1987
by Govind Nihalani. Two of his masterpiece stories, 'Chief ki davat' and 'Amritsar Aa Gaya Hai', are also
based on the Partition.
Sahni's prolific career as a writer also included five other Hindi novels, over hundred short stories spread
over nine collections of short stories, (including Bhagya Rekha (1953), Pahla patha (1956), Bhatakti rakha
(1966), and Nischar (1983)); a collection of children's short stories Gulal ka khel and The train has reached
Amritsar.But his novel named 'Mayyadas Ki Mari' (Mayyadas's Castle) was one of his finest literary
creation,The backdrop of this narrative is historical and depicts the age when the Khalsa Raj was vanquished
in Punjab and the British were taking over. This novel is a saga of changing social order and decadent set of
values.
[2]
Bhisham Sahni wrote his autobiography Aaj ke Ateet (Pasts of the Present) and the biography of his brother
Balraj Sahni, Balraj My Brother, (English).
[3]
Plays
Hanush (1977), staged by theatre director Rajindra Nath and Arvind Gaur (1993). it was adapted into
Kashmiri as "Waqtsaaz" by Manzoor Ahmad Mir and was performed by the Artists participating in
month long Educational Theatre workshop organised by National School of Drama,at srinagar Kashmir
under the Direction of Sh. M. K. Raina in the year 2004.
Kabira khara bazar mein'(1981): Many Indian theatre directors like M.K. Raina and Arvind Gaur
performed this play
Madhavi (1982): First staged by theatre director Rajendra Nath. Later US-trained actress Rashi Bunny
performed Madhavi as a solo play.
[4][5]
This solo won many awards in international theatre festivals
Muavze (1993): First performed by National School of Drama rep. with Bapi Bose. This is a very
popular play among theatre groups.
Literary style
Bhisham Sahni was one of the most prolific writers of Hindi literature. His command over local dialects and
to the common languages such as Urdu and Punjabi has enabled him to attach his writing to the hearts and
minds of common people. Most of his short stories are the stories about the common people who are toiling
under the brutal cog-wheel of the socio-political-economic bitterness. A reader can feel the emotional bond
with the characters of his stories, and that makes him able to charicate the hardship of his time.
Awards
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During his lifetime, Bisham Sahni won several Awards including Shiromani Writers Award,1979, Uttar
Pradesh Government Award for Tamas, 1975,Colour of Nation Award at International Theatre
Festival,Russia for Play Madhavi by Rashi Bunny,2004, Madhya Pradesh Kala Sahitya Parishad Award, for
his play 'Hanush', 1975 the Lotus Award from the Afro-Asian Writers' Association, 1981 and the Soviet
Land Nehru Award, 1983, and finally the Padma Bhushan for literature in 1998, and India's highest literary
award the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2002.
[6]
References
^ Tamas (https://www.vedamsbooks.com/no21939.htm) 1.
^ http://mystudyroom.org/hobbies 2.
^ Bhishma Sahni at U.S. Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/bhishamsahni.html) 3.
^ Mita Kapur. "Madhavi solo by Rashi Bunny: The story of every woman" (http://sites.google.com
/site/bhartiyanatya/hindustan-times-review-madhavi-solo-by-rashi-bunny). Hindustan Times. Retrieved 10 May
2010.
4.
^ Drama Critics. "BhishamSahni's Madhavi by Rashi Bunny at British Council"
(http://www.anandfoundation.com/zz_madhavi_4.asp). Anand Foundation. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
5.
^ Sahitya Akademi Fellowships (http://www.sahitya-akademi.org/sahitya-akademi/awa2.htm) 6.
Sharma, Rajendra (19 July 2003). "A life of commitment: Bhisham Sahni, 1915 2003"
(http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2015/stories/20030801003612900.htm). Frontline magazine.
Retrieved 22 August 2006.
Bhatnagar, Ashwini (27 July 2003). "Commoners' chronicler" (http://www.tribuneindia.com
/2003/20030727/spectrum/main1.htm). The Tribune (Chandigarh). Retrieved 31 August 2006.
External links
Bhisham Sahni at Gadya Kosh (Online Encyclopedia of Hindi Literature) (http://www.gadyakosh.org
/gk/%E0%A4%AD%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE_%E0%A4%B8%E0
%A4%BE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%80)
Watch Tamas online (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5343886488714160113&hl=en)
http://theatredirector.blog.com/Madhavi%20solo%20-Review%20Hindustan%20Times/
Bhisham Sahni (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0756380/) at the Internet Movie Database
'The Boss Came to Dinner' at Foundation of SAARC writers (http://foundationsaarcwriters.com
/indiawriter47.htm)
Govind Nihalani speaks of Bhisham Sahni and Tamas (http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/jul
/12bhishm.htm)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bhisham_Sahni&oldid=621750887"
Categories: 1915 births 2003 deaths Indian writers Hindi-language writers Indian children's writers
Indian actors Indian dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Hindi Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan Punjabi people Indian Hindus Marxist writers Communist writers
Hindi dramatists and playwrights Indian People's Theatre Association people Indian novelists
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