Odia Books

Bhanjakishore Pattanayak was born in 1922 at Chhanapur or Chhanipur, a village near Salepur in the district of Cuttack, became popular as a dramatist during the first two decades ofthe post-Independence era. He received his primary education at home and in the village and secondary education at Banipada.Later, he passed B.A. with distinction and joined as Production Officer in the office of the Director of Public Instruction, Orissa.

In his school days he was deeply influenced by the Chhau dance of Mayurbhanja, the Oriya folk dramas
and the plays of eminent Bengali writers like D.L. Roy, and wrote Jhada rati (The night of storm, 1939) and
Premapushpa (The flower of love, 1940), the latter inspired by the love story of Edward VIII and his
abdication of the throne. His third play, Mimansa (1944), was staged by the students of Cuttack Engineering School. In “the same year he wrote three more plays named Davi, Adrishya chakra and Devi and the last named became very popular on the stage. He wrote numerous plays for the professional stage including Benami (1946), Jahar (1947), Sikari (1948), Garib (1949), Tofan (1949), Aloka (1950), Manika Jodi (1950), Sadhavi (1951), Vairagira Samsara (1952), Agni-pariksha (1953), Atithi (1955), Jayamalya(1956), Pahiliraja (1956), Kulabadhu (1956), Jivana jua (1957), Santa Ghara (1958), Rajanartaki (1961), Prataparudra (1962), Asoka-stambha (1963), Gotie Ma Kotie Santana (1965), Gulnar (1970), Akasa yeunthi mati chhuen (1970), Jagarana, Sukhi samsara and Devabhumi. Besides, he wrote a number of radio plays and one-act plays. His historical or semi-histroical plays like Prataprudra, Gulnar, Rajanartaki and Devabhumi are not very striking. Influenced to some extent by Ibsen he was primarily a writer of social plays depicting social and economic problems, the struggle between the workers and the capitalists, the tenants and the landlords, the cruel money-lenders and the poor debtors, the rich and the poor. They serve as a background for his romantic love themes. The plays are moralistic in spirit as they illustrate the victory of good over evil or a change of heart for the wicked. They are rendered all the more pleasing to the audience as they uphold the power of love consummated in the romantic union of lovers. Gandhian reformism is seen in some of his plays like Pahiliraja and Agni pariksha. In Garib he apparently emphasises the need for a revolution and in Asokastambha he advocates the ideal fusion of inner strength and the spirit of nonviolence, the blending of a sense of discipline with the spirit of love. In dramas like Vairagira samsara and Atithi, he brings out the virtues of the Indian family life. Jayamalya, his most successful drama, deals with the tragic lot of an idealistic creative artist and Parishodha, written in collaboration with Saradaprasad Nayak, is his only other drama with a tragic end. Jahar is an anti-imperialistic play denouncing the ugly outburst of communalism seen in the wake of independence. Most of his plays are characterized by sensationalism, melodrama and cheap comic elements. His dramas of mystery and crime, like Santa ghara and Sadhavi, are gripping but suffer from an excessive desire to be theatrical and a preference for the sensational. Bhanjakishore was, however, successful as a commercial dramatist, though his works fall short of the best in dramatic art. He wrote very popular bibliography like Narayan Satapathy, Oria nataka natyakara; Nityananda Satpathy, Adhunika oria sahitya; Ratnakar Chaini, Udbhata Natya parampara; Saradaprasad Dalbehara, Orisa rangmancha itihasa; Sarbeswar Das, Oria natya sahitya; Virakishore Das, Yuge yuge natyasahitya.

Gotie Ma Kotie Santana
Santa Ghara
Prataprudra
Vairagira Samsara
Kulabadhu
Rajanartaki
Sikari
Garib
Tofan