Ganatantra, Samyabaad, Manabadhikar

Annadashankar Ray was a renowned Bengali poet and essayist. He was born in Dhenkanal in Orissa. He graduated in English from Ravenshaw College. He topped the list of Indian Civil Service examinees in 1927. After serving in various administrative posts, he sought voluntary retirement in 1951 to devote himself to literary pursuits. Ray was a Gandhian in politics, and Rabindranath Tagore inspired his literature. As an essayist, he was urbane and sophisticated and combined in his craft two different styles of prose, represented by Tagore and Pramatha Choudhury. He received the Vidyasagar Smriti Award from the state government and the Padma Bhushan. He was made a fellow of the Sahitya Akademi in 1989. The Visva Bharati conferred on him the Desikottama and an honorary D.Litt. He also received the Rabindra Puraskar, the Ananda Puraskar twice and the prestigious Zaibunnisa Award of Bangladesh.

Basu Acharya is a trade union activist, editor and author. He has more than twenty books to his credit. He is known for his critical evaluations of political, social and art theories.

32. Dhiman Dasgupta is one of those contemporary intellectuals who continue to enrich the fields of Bengali literature and the philosophy of world cinema through the depth and breadth of their thought. In recognition of these achievements, he has received numerous awards. He served as the editor of the complete works of Annadashankar Roy, a monumental collection spanning twenty-five volumes. Through his own writing or editorial supervision, at least three books dedicated to Annadashankar have been published, and three documentary films have been produced based on his screenplays.

Pratyush Pal completed his postgraduate studies and PhD in the Department of Bengali Language and Literature at the University of Calcutta, with his research focusing on “Udayan Ghosh: Life and Literature.” He is currently an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Bengali at Sanskrit College and University. The Narrative of the Mahabharata: In Literature, Drama, and Cinema is his first full-length book, and his other works include Bengali Short Stories of the Preparatory Phase (edited) and Upanishads and the Novel (in press).