Sankar (writer)

Sankar was the son of Avaya Mukherjee. Sankar's father died while he was still a teenager, as a result of which Sankar became a clerk to the last British barrister of the Calcutta High Court, Noel Frederick Barwell.^[2] At the same time, he entered in Surendranath College (formerly Ripon College, Calcutta) for study. He had various jobs, such as typist, cleaner, private tutor and hawker. ^{[citation needed]}

After Noel Barwell's sudden death, Sankar, the professional version of his name adopted for the law courts, sought to honour Barwell. "First, I wanted to build a statue. It was not possible. I then wanted to name a road. Even that was not feasible. And then I decided to write a book about him," according to Sankar. That impetus led to his first novel, about Barwell,^[3] that according to some critics is perhaps the most stimulating -- Kato Ajanare (So Much Unknown).^[4]

Around the same time in 1962, Sankar conceived Chowringhee on a rainy day at the waterlogged crossing of Central Avenue and Dalhousie – a busy business district in the heart of Kolkata. The novel, set in the opulent hotel he called Shahjahan, was made into a cult movie in 1968. It is wrongly said that Sankar marketed his literary work to Bengali households with the marketing slogan A bagful of Sankar (Ek Bag Sankar) and collections of his books were sold in blue packets through this marketing effort.^[5] He was rewarded with Sahitya Akademi Award on 18 March 2021 for his outstanding autobiographical work of Eka Eka Ekashi.^[6][7]

Sankar died on 20 February 2026, at the age of 92. He had been hospitalised 15 days prior.^[8]

• Jekhane Jemon (travelogue) (As It Is There)
• Kato Ajanare (novel) (The Many Unknowns) - his debut novel.
• Nivedita Research Laboratory (novel)
• Abasarika ISBN 978-81-7612-777-6
• Chowringhee (novel) (1962)
• Swarga Martya Patal- (collection of three stories: Jana Aranya (The Sea of People), Seemabaddha (Limited Company) and Asha Akangsha (Hopes and Desires))
• Gharer Madhye Ghar
• Nagar Nandini
• Banglar Meye ISBN 978-81-7079-454-7
• Simanta Sambad ISBN 978-81-7079-554-4
• Kamana Basana ISBN 978-81-7079-978-8
• Purohit Darpan
• Sri Sri Ramkrishna Rahsyamrito
• Purohit Darpan
• Mone Pare
• Mansamman (1981)
• Samrat O Sundari (novel)
• Charan Chhunye Jai ISBN 978-81-7079-528-5
• Bangalir Bittasadhana - Saharar Itikatha ISBN 81-7267-045-1
• Jaabar Belay ISBN 978-81-7267-066-5
• Mathar Opor Chhad
• Patabhumi ISBN 978-81-7612-637-3
• Rasabati ISBN 978-81-7612-637-3
• Ek Bag Sankar (collection) ISBN 978-81-7079-091-4
• Kamana Basana ISBN 978-81-7079-978-8
• Sonar Sangsar
• Chhayachhabi (collection)
• Muktir Swad
• Subarno Sujog
• ABCD
• Charan Chhunye Jai (Vol 2) ISBN 978-81-7612-888-9
• Bittabasana
• Eka eka ekashi
• Rup tapos

• Many of Sankar's works have been made into films. Some notable ones are – Chowringhee, Jana Aranya and Seemabaddha, out of which the last two were directed by Satyajit Ray.^[9]
• In 1959, Ritwik Ghatak started making a film Kato Ajanare based on Sankar's first novel.^[10]
• His novel, Man Samman, was turned into a film by Basu Chatterjee, Sheesha (1986), starring Mithun Chakraborty, Moonmoon Sen and Mallika Sarabhai.
• Shah Jahan Regency (2019) by Srijit Mukherji and starring Starring Abir Chatterjee, Anjan Dutt, Mamata Shankar, Parambrata Chatterjee, Rudranil Ghosh, Anirban Bhattacharya, Swastika Mukherjee, Kanchan Mullick, Rittika Sen, Rituparna Sengupta.^[11]

• 1993 – Bankim Puraskar for Gharer Moddhe Ghar
• Sahitya Akademi Award: 2021^[12]
• ABP Ananda Sera Bangali Award ("Sera'r Sera"): 2022^[13]

• Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri