H is for Hemendra Kumar Roy

Hi folks!

What’s your favourite book? Who’s your favourite author? Which book inspired you to become a writer?

I’ll be honest, I don’t like questions like these. Because it’s impossible to pick one book or one author as a “favourite”. As someone who’s been reading books since childhood, I have loved many authors and many books in my life. And I keep discovering more all the time. So, the right question to ask me probably would be: Which authors or books would you happily read multiple times? The answer to this question is, obviously, in the plural, but today I’m going to discuss one of the names that would definitely make it to the list.

I discovered Shri Hemendra Kumar Roy through his timeless classic Jokher Dhan. My first encounter with the book was my mother reading it to me. Once I started reading books on my own, this was one of the first books I read. A thrilling tale of adventure and treasure hunting, it undoubtedly shaped my taste in books and movies. Even now, adventure and treasure hunt stories are close to my heart. Through this book, I was introduced to the inimitable duo of Bimal and Kumar, as well as their redoubtable manservant Ramhari and their dog Bagha. Later I was to learn that this was not the only adventure of the daredevil duo that Shri Roy wrote. There are a total of 31 novels and stories of this duo, including some set abroad.

The other famous duo created by Shri Roy are the detectives Jayanta-Manik, about whom I have written in my post D is for Detectives of Bengali Fiction. These two amateur sleuths live in Kolkata and solve crimes, often helping police inspector Sundar Babu in his cases. They are intelligent, brave, physically fit, and patriotic young men. Possibly the first completely original indigenous pair based on the Sherlock-Watson model in Bengali literature, Jayanta and Manik took the market by storm. Even now, the pair remain highly popular among readers, with the complete collection including 27 novels and 25 stories.

Shri Hemendra Kumar Roy was a highly prolific author who wrote many other novels and stories besides these two series. His works, which number in the hundreds, built the foundation of the Juvenile or Young Adult genre in Bengali literature long before the genre was part of the consciousness of popular readership. Including adventures, mysteries, humour, horror, science fiction, and the supernatural, his books appeal both to young readers and adult despite the target audience being the young. His books were instrumental in introducing reading as a hobby to many in the early and mid-twentieth century.

Some of the better known of his books for juvenile readers, apart from the two series mentioned above, are Moynamotir Mayakanan (fantasy), Jader Naame Sabai Bhoy Paay, Manush-Pishach, Morar Mrityu (horror), Meghduter Mortye Agomon (science fiction), Dedhsho Khokar Kando (Adventure), Tara Teen Bondhu (comic series), and Ratrir Jatri (detective fiction). He also wrote novels and stories of many hues for adults. His works for adults include Aleyar Alo, Jaler Alpona, Jharer Jatri, Pather Meye, and many others.

Shri Hemendra Kumar Roy wasn’t just an author. He was also a painter, an editor for magazines like Nachghar, Mouchak, and Rongmoshal, a poet whose lyrics were put to music and sung by legends like Sachin Dev Burman, Manna Dey, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Kanai Dey. He even choreographed Shishirkumar Bhaduri’s Seeta. He translated and adapted many foreign works into Bengali, such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khaiyyam, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, H G Wells’s The Invisible Man, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Alexandre Dumas’s Count of Monte Cristo, Enter the Saint by Leslie Charteris, King Kong by Edgar Wallace, Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, and others.

Many of his works have been adapted into film and television, with Jokher Dhan receiving multiple adaptations. His story Nishithini Bibhishika was adapted into a Bengali film titled Jighansha (1951) and into the hit Hindi film Bees Saal Baad (1962). Other adaptations include Dedhsho Khokar Kando, Abar Jakher Dhan, and Ratrir Jatri. Many of the Jayanta-Manik and Bimal-Kumar stories have been adapted into popular podcasts. His story Sindur Chupri and his work of poetry titled Jouboner Gaan were translated into German by Dr Reinhart Hobner, while Jakher Dhan was translated into English.

What set his stories apart was the inherently Indian sensibilities of his characters. In an age when nationalism was rising, creating confident, physically competent, courageous, and patriotic characters met the growing demand for literature that fit the national sentiment. These were characters and settings that the youth could relate to and emulate, in a language that was their own. His works set the tone for anti-imperialistic popular fiction, which ushered in a new era for Bengali literature. They also paved the way for authors like Premendra Mitra, Satyajit Ray, Nihar Ranjan Gupta, Sunil Gangopadhyay, and others.

When I first started writing fiction some decades ago, Jokher Dhan consciously and subconsciously influenced my characters and stories. Even now, when I sit down to write about Manik and his (mis)adventures, I am aware of the extent of inspiration I draw from that and other books written by Shri Hemendra Kumar Roy. Is Manik a copy of his heroes? Absolutely not! Is he a successor of the type of character created by this colossus of Bengali literature? Very much so.

Have you read any of his books, either in the original or a translated version? Would you like to? Let me know in the comments!

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This post is a part of BlogchatterA2Z Challenge 2026