Suchitra Bhattacharya

Suchitra Bhattacharya Biography

Suchitra Bhattacharya was a noted Bengali novelist who published 24 novels and many short stories. Many of her short stories were published in several leading magazines. Her works have been translated to several languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English. Rituparno Ghosh’s highly praised movie ‘Dahan’ (1997) was based on her novel with the same name. Most recently the acclaimed director Mainak Bhaumik made one movie - Family Album (2015) based on one of her book Char dewal, which told same sex relationship. Known for redefining feminist literature in Bengal, her best 5 books are Dahan, Kachcher Manush, Ichcher Gaach, Hemanter Pakhi and Alochchaya and all these works documented women’s problems, thoughts and lives.

Suchitra Bhattacharya was born on 10 January 1950 in Bhagalpur, Bihar. She got attracted to the world of writing since her younger days. She graduated from the Jogamaya Devi College; she got married and took a break from writing. She returned to her literal career in the late 1970s with a collection of short stories. She started writing novels in the mid-1980s and with the work - Kacher Dewal, she rose to the position of major Bengali writers. She published 24 novels in her life time.

She focused on women’s problems and contemporary social issues through her works and most of her works were dedicated to Bengali middle class. Yet she never considered herself as a feminist. She travelled through - degeneration of moral values, crisis in human relationships and the changing values of the present era and penned them through her books. She retired from public work in 2004 to dedicate more time to writing. She passed away on May 12, 2015 following a heart attack.

Published: N/A

Updated: December 24, 2015