1928 - 2013
A celebrated cover design by Ajit Gupta for Manoj Basu's novel 'Nishikutumbo'
Ajit Gupta's preference for the stylized over the sensational, demonstrated in this cover for Premendra Mitra's horror / thriller 'Haana Baari' ['The Haunted House', 1952]
'Lekhawk Nijei Gawlpo' : One of two autobiographies by Ajit Gupta, recounting his experiences in the publishing world. Jacket Design : Author
The trademark poker faced Ghanada profile, approved by Premendra Mitra. From the story 'Maachh' featured in the first Ghanada book 'Ghanadar Gawlpo' (1956) Artist : Ajit Gupta
This Hindi translation 'Ghanshyam-Da' (1975) and its sequel, retained Ajit Gupta's trademark sketches, proving his popularity. Title page of 'Machchhar' ['Mosquito']
Ajit Gupta
1956. Ghanashyam Das was already a teen icon. Time then to publish an anthology from stories scattered in the Puja annuals.
The hero defied categorization. ‘Adventure’, ‘Science Fiction’, ‘Mystery’, ‘Humour’ – genres mingled. The brew was served in a wacky ironic matter-of-fact fashion, posing a challenge to the new book designer.
If Protul Chandra spiced and tensed up the understated action scenes to match his own style, Ajit Gupta (1928 - 2013)’s visuals complemented Premendra’s literary USP. Reduced years, kilos, facial fur and flab gave the revamped graphic avatar a chiseled uncertain-aged poker face.
A cool new Ghanada for the post-Independence teens.
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The Ghanada Artists
1903 - 1974
Protul Chandra Bandyopadhyay signed his sketches in English or the Devanagari script
Protul Chandra's artwork from Sukhalata Rao's 'Nijey Pawro'
Cover Design for a collection of poems for children, 'Chhotoder Chayanika'
Edge-of-the-bed moment from a spine-chiller captured by Protul Chandra Bandyopadhyay
From 'Pokaa' (1948), where Ghanashyam first sprouted his handlebar
Protul Chandra Bandyopadhyay
The Bengali who autographed his artwork in Devanagari or English.
You mastered the alphabet.
Memorized rhymes.
Moved on to spine-chillers.
His sketches smiled back.
Or scared you silly.
A master of the traditional realistic style, Protul Chandra Bandyopadhyay (1903 - 74) created the first visual model of Ghanada.
In over twenty tales through two and a half decades, Ghanashyam Das' handlebar moustache stood testimony to the Premendra - Protul partnership.
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Publishers often replaced the hero's head, as visualized by another illustrator, with an elongated Gupta-Ghanada cranium in later editions of the same book.
(From Left) Protul Chandra & Balaibandhu's Ghanada
[From 'Shuto' & 'Dhil' respectively]
Some artists like Balaibandhu Roy pursued the Protul-prototype.
Premendra Mitra's own preference was no secret either.
A Gupta face grafted on to a Dhiren Bal body.
['Maap' from the 1970 & 1993 editions of 'Ghanadar Juri Nei']
Excerpts from Ajit Gupta's memoir 'Bhaalobaashaar Aadda' (2007) :
This article by Premendra Mitra from 'Kishore Jnan Bijnan' (1981) contains a rare reference to the Ghanada illustrations.
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But Ajit Gupta's graphic is still considered the copybook version.
Others
Bulky , bespectacled, bearded, buffoonish - our hero often popped up in bizarre builds !
The various faces of Ghanashyam Das.
Artists : Narendra Dutta, Ahibhushan Malik, Pratul Chandra, Alay Ghoshal, Sudhir Moitra
Ghanada's reign (1945 - 87) spanned Bengal's most decisive four decades of teen fiction.
Illustration styles also evolved with the advent of glossy juvenile journals and new printing techniques.
More than two dozen ace artists gifted Ghanashyam their distinctive touch. Notable names included :
Ahibhushan Malik. Alay Kumar Ghoshal. Alok Dhar. Anup Ray. Balaibandhu Roy. Bimal Das.
Debasish Deb. Dhirenkumar Baul. Dhruba Roy. Dilip Das. Goutam Roy. Narayan Debnath.
Narendra Dutta.Onkarnath Bhattacharya. Prashanta Gupta. Robin Basu. Samir Mondal. Samir Sarkar.
Shailo Narayan Chakraborty. Shuvaprasanna Bhattacharya. Subodh Kumar Dasgupta.
Subrata Chowdhury. Sudhir Moitra. Surya Roy. Tushar Chattopadhyay. Uday Deb.
1907 - 1989
1912 - 1992
1913 - 1979
1926 -
1938 - 2002
Ajit Gupta modelled his trademark Ghanada on a certain 'Nitishbabu' belonging to Premendra Mitra's film unit
See also : The 'Ghanada Gallery' page on
Comics, Artists' Gallery page
Artist : Uday Deb
