Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was a great Assamese playwright, dramatist, film maker, poet, producer, songwriter and writer from Assam. He was considered as Assamese cultural icon, deeply revered for his creative vision and output and is popularly called the Rupkonwar (Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala) of Assamese culture. In fact, he is regarded as the founder of Assamese cinema for Joymati (1935).

He was born on 17 June 1903 in Tamulbari Tea Estate. His father was Paramanada Agarwala and mother was Kiranmayee. He is the nephew of another cultural icon, Chandra Kumar Agarwala. His forefather, Nabrangram Agarwala, had come to Assam in 1811 from the Marwar region in Rajasthan. 

He started his education in Tezpur Government High School and passed his matriculation examination (2nd Division) from  Chitranjan Das University, Kolkata. During high school time itself he joined the freedom movement. After matriculation he joined National College of Calcutta and completed his I.A from there. For his graduation he went to Edinburgh University, Britain. He also joined M.A but before finishing it he came to Germany to study Films. After seven months of studies in Filmat the UFA studio in Germany, he came back to Assam in 1930.

After his return to Assam, he continued his activities for Indian independence and joined the Non Co-operation movement in 1921. He started working more actively after returning from foreign soil. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for fifteen months and was fined 500 rupees in 1932 for his active involvement in the fightings of Independence. Despite suffering from Typhoid in the Silchar jail, he completed his period of imprisonment. In 1941 joined the Volunteer Group Of Congress where he rendered selfless service and after a period of time he became it’s leader. He was actively involved in various activities during the freedom movement from various regions of Assam. In 1942,due to his involvement in the freedom struggle, was declared an absconder by the British Government. Surrendered in 1943 in Tezpur, but was subsequently freed due to lack of evidence.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala started writing since the age of 14 years only. At that time he wrote down the famous play 'Sonit-Konwari'. For next few years during his student days he wrote many short stories. Jyoti Prasad was very good in studying children psychology. He wrote many stories for children. During his lifetime he had written drama, poetry, biography, books etc. He also delevered speeches in different functions on subjects like  literature, music and culture. Some other plays written by him are Rupalim, Karengar Ligiri, Lobhita, etc. His plays are acted on stage till date in Assam.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was a fantastic poet as well. He wrote more than 300 songs and gave music to most of them. These songs collection is known as Jyoti Sangeet. It bacame a new genre of music itself in Assam in later days.

He established the Chitraban Studio at the Bholaguri Tea Estate and began filming the movie Joymoti around the end of 1933. This was the first film from Assam. The film, released in 1935, was based on a play by Laxminath Bezbarua about the heroic Ahom princess Sati Joymoti imprisoned and tortured by a repressive Ahom swargadeo. In 1936 he married Devajani Chaliha.

1934 -Constructed " Chitraban Studio" in Bholaguri Tea State temporarily and made the first Assamese movie "Joymati"
1935- "Joymati"  was released
1936-37 - Produced jointly with Bishnu Prasad Rabha the  record play  "Joymati" and "Sonit Kunwari"
1937 - Constructed Jonaki cinema hall in Tezpur.
1939 - Made the second Assamese movie Indra Malati even before the stipulated time.
1940 - Established Tezpur music school. He republished "Asomiya" which was a closed down newspaper since 1944 (for seven months).
He was a pioneer in  establishing an University in Assam,  and also prepared a architectural print for the construction of University.

Another contribution of Jyotiprasad agarwala is the publication of the newspaper 'Axomiya' in 1944. He also established an assamese music school in Tezpur.

Due to ill  health resigned from the post of editor of the newspaper and took the responsibility for  maintenance of Tamulbari Tea Garden near Dibrugarh. Tried to give a new dimension to employer-employee  relationship. And at the same time he continued his literary and cultural persuits.

Jyoti Prasad Agarwala died of cancer on 17 January 1951 at 'Poki', Tezpur. His death anniversary, 17 June is calebrated as 'Jyoti Divas' in Assam every year.

Family Profile:

Wife:          Late Debyani Agarwala(marriage solemnized in 1936)
Son:            Chinmay Agarwala                       

Daughters: Jaisree (married to Satyabrat Chaliha.)
                   Gyansree (married to Prof. Priyalal Pathak.)
                   Satyasree (married to Anil Das).
                   Hemasree (married to Anal Chaliha).
                   Manasree (married to Jogen Hazarika).

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