NARAYAN DEBNATH

Key Points:

• The famous cartoonist created famous Bengali comedy characters such as Handa Bhonda (1962), Bantul the Great (1965), and Nonte Phonte (1969).
• He holds the record for the longest-running comedy by a single artist in the comedy series Handa Bhonda which spans 60 years.
• In 2021, Debnath was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award.

Narayan Debnath' Life:

• He was born and spent most of his life living in Shibpur, Howrah, India.
• His family hails from Bikrampur in Bangladesh but moved to Shibpur before his birth.
• In an interview published by Laalmati Publication in Narayan Debnath Comics Samagra, Debnath admitted that he had loved visual arts since he was very young.

His Creations:

• He published other creations, such as Rabbi Chobi, to mark the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore's birth in the May 1961 issue of Anandamela.
• The full 50-page comedy was first published in book format by Sarvodaya Sahitya Prakashan, Varanasi.
• Rajar Raja (published 1962), presented by Narayan Debnath and written by Bimal Ghosh to celebrate the centenary of Swami Vivekananda.