Nihar Ranjan Gupta

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Biography

Nihar Ranjan Gupta (Bengali: নীহার রঞ্জন গুপ্ত, pen name: Banbhatta (বানভট্ট); 6 June 1911 – 20 February 1986) was an Indian dermatologist and a popular Bengali novelist. During the Second World War Gupta served as an army doctor and was posted to various places, including Chittagong, Burma and Egypt. After the war he completed post-graduate studies in the United Kingdom, specialising in dermatology. On his return he joined the Calcutta Medical College. In his career as a physician he was associated with several hospitals in India. After the Partition, his family permanently migrated to Kolkata, West Bengal in 1947.

As a child Gupta always dreamed of becoming a writer. He once went to Shantiniketan to seek the blessings of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and took his autograph. At the age of eighteen he composed his first novel, Rajkumar. During his stay in England he developed a keen interest in detective stories and met Agatha Christie, author of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. After coming back to India, he wrote his first detective novel, Kalo Bhramar (meaning The Black Hornet), which launched his detective character Kiriti Roy. In his literary career Gupta has composed over two hundred novels, plays, short stories, and essays. The most popular among them are Ulka, Badshah, Lalubhulu, Uttarphalguni, Asti Bhagirathi Tire, Mayur Mahal, Devyani, Neeltara, Mayamriga, Komalgandhar and Nishipadma. Forty five of his novels have been made into Bengali and Hindi feature films in India.