Jyotiprasad Agarwala (1903-51) Aka Rupkonwar.

First Assamese director. Born in Tezpur; radical playwright (e.g. Sonitkonwari, 1925; Karengar-Ligari, 1936; Rupalim, 1960). Stage director and songwriter who introduced traditional musical forms to contemporary Assamese stage. Graduate of Edinburgh University and Trinity College, Cambridge where he studied Western music (1926). Studied film-making at UFA, Germany (1930). Prominent political activist; jailed as member of Congress Party (1931-2); resigned from Tezpur Local Board protesting Assam government’s compulsory financial contributions to WW2 and was involved in CP- led uprising of 1942. President of first IPTA conference in Assam at Silchar, following 1942 struggles. Briefly edited daily newspaper Dainik Asamiya (1944). First film, Joymati, based on Sahityatri Bezbaruah’s militant play, made in improvised studio adjoining his family’s tea gardens near Tezpur, an event commemorated in Bhupen Hazarika’s film about the director, Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Aru Joymati (1976).

FILMOGRAPHY: 1935: Joymati; 1939: Indramalati.