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{{short description|Indian broadcaster, playwright, actor, reciter and theatre director}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Birendra Krishna Bhadra<br/>বীরেন্দ্রকৃষ্ণ ভদ্র
| image = Birendra Krishna Bhadra (1905-1991).jpg
| image_size = 200px
| alt =
| caption = Birendra Krishna Bhadra
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1905|08|04}}
| birth_place = Ahiritola, [[Kolkata]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1991|11|3|1905|08|04}}
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], West Bengal, India
| other_names =
| known_for = ''[[Mahisasuramardini (radio programme)|Mahishasura Mardini]]'' (1931)
| occupation = Broadcaster, Playwright, Actor, Theater Director
| nationality = Indian
| parents = Kali Krishna Bhadra<br/>Saralabala Devi
}}

'''Birendra Krishna Bhadra'''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/mahalaya-2018-eight-decades-on-bengalis-continue-to-tune-in-to-birendra-krishna-bhadra-4848287/|title=Mahalaya 2018: Eight decades on, Bengalis continue to tune in to 'Birendra Krishna Bhadra'|newspaper=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref> ({{lang-bn|বীরেন্দ্রকৃষ্ণ ভদ্র}}) (1905–1991) was a [[radio]] [[broadcasting|broadcaster]], [[playwright]], [[actor]], narrator and theatre director from [[Kolkata]], [[India]] and a contemporary of [[Pankaj Mallick]] and [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]]. He worked for the [[All India Radio]], India's National Radio broadcaster for several years during its early, starting 1930s, and during this period he produced and adapted several plays.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/patrika/article-on-indian-playwright-birendra-krishna-bhadra-1.876559|title=বেতারের প্রাণপুরুষ, বাঙালির প্রাণনাথ|work=[[Anandabazar Patrika]]}}</ref>

Today, he is most known for his soaring Sanskrit recitation and India's oldest radio show, ''[[Mahisasuramardini (radio programme)|Mahishashura Mardini]]'' (1931),<ref>{{cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/lifestyle/86-years-meet-the-voice-behind-indias-oldest-radio-show-1.2096172|title=86 years: Meet the voice behind India's oldest radio show|newspaper=[[Gulf News]]}}</ref> a collection of [[shloka]]s and songs broadcast by [[All India Radio]] [[Calcutta]] (now Kolkata) at 4:00 am, in the dawn of [[Mahalaya]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/birendra-krishna-bhadra-s-86-year-old-mahalaya-still-rules-hearts-118101300194_1.html|title=Birendra Krishna Bhadra's 86-year-old 'Mahalaya' still rules hearts|newspaper=[[Business Standard]]}}</ref> He also acted and directed several plays in [[Bengali theatre]] and even wrote the screenplay for the film, ''Nishiddha Phal'' (1955). A Bengali short film Birendra Krishna Bhadra - The Voice Since 1936 Was released In 2019 By Haalum Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

==Early life and education==
Birendra Krishna Bhadra was born on 4 August 1905, to Roy Bahadur Kalikrishna and Sarala Bala Devi at a rented house in Ahiritola his maternal home, in the north [[Kolkata]]. Later the family shifted to 7, Ramdhan Mitra Lane, the house bought by his grandmother Yogo Maya Devi. His father, Kali Krishna Bhadra was a linguist, fluent in 14 languages, and employed as an interpreter in a lower court and later became a known figure in the Bengali literary circles of the time. Kali Krishna married Sarala Bala Devi the second child of the then famous Police Court lawyer Kalicharan Ghosh, and in 1927 was awarded the title of [[Rai Bahadur|Roy Bahadur]]. Roy Bahadur Kali Krishna had two sons, Bhupendra Krishna and Birendra Krishna. In 1926, Birendra Krishna Bhadra passed Intermediate, and in 1928 graduated from [[Scottish Church College]], Kolkata.

==Career==
He adapted and restructured several classics to produce notable radio plays. In the 1930s [[All India Radio]], Kolkata started broadcasting a two-hour program called [[Mahishashura Mardini]] which describes the epic battle of goddess [[Durga]] with the demon king [[Mahishashura]]. The script of this program was written by Bani Kumar and the music was directed by [[Pankaj Mullick|Pankaj Kumar Mallik]].

Bhadra wrote some plays including ''Mess No. 49'', and directed a theatre production ''Sahib Bibi Gulam'', a stage adaptation of the celebrated novel of famous author, the [[Bimal Mitra]]. In 1952, he dramatised [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]]'s novel ''Subarna Golak'' which was filmed in the [[Subarna Golak|same name]] in 1981.

==Legacy==
His rendition, Mahisasura Mardini, is still played by [[All India Radio]], every [[Mahalaya]], marking the beginning of [[Durga Puja]] festivities. So popular was his version of the recitation that when in 1976, the voice of noted Bengali actor, [[Uttam Kumar]] was employed for the programme, it didn't get a favorable response from the audience and it was shifted back to the original version of Birendra Krishna Bhadra.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/voice-from-nbsp-the-sky/cid/1470200|title=Voice from the sky|newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)]]}}</ref>

[[Subhasish Mukhopadhyay|Subhasish Mukherjee]] portrayed him in his biopic [[Mahalaya (film)|''Mahalaya'']],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bengali/movie-reviews/mahalaya/movie-review/68215274.cms|title=Mahalaya Movie Review|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> written and directed by [[Soumik Sen]], highlighting the 1976 fiasco.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.anandabazar.com/supplementary/patrika/%E0%A6%AF-%E0%A6%AC-%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%A6-%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%AD-%E0%A6%A4-%E0%A6%B7-1.70296|title=যা বীরেন্দ্র সর্বভূতেষু|publisher=[[Anandabazar Patrika]]}}</ref> [[Jisshu Sengupta]] portrayed the role of [[Uttam Kumar]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.uniindia.com/mahalaya-is-a-confluence-of-historical-nostalgia-and-artistic-excellence/entertainment/news/1516978.html|title=Mahalaya'is a confluence of historical nostalgia and artistic excellence|publisher=[[United News of India]]}}</ref>

On the Mahalaya day in 2006, Sujata Bhadra, daughter of the late Birendra Krishna Bhadra, got a cheque for Rs 50,917 from music company, [[Saregama|Saregama India Ltd]] as a royalty for her father's famous work.

==Works==
* ''Hitopadesa'', Publisher: Hanthawaddy publication, 1948.
* ''Bisvarūpa-darśana''. Publisher: Kathakali, 1963.
* ''Rana-berana'', Publisher: Bihar Sahitya Bhavan, 1965.
* ''Bratakathā samagra'', Publisher: Mandala end Sansa, 1985.
* ''Śrīmadbhagabata: sampurna dvādaśa skandha, with Upendracandra Śāstri. Publisher: Mandala eyāṇḍa Sansa, 1990.

===Plays===
* Blackout
* ''Sat Tulsi'' 1940
*he wrote a script of a Bengali movie name mahisasur vadh

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|1802473}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140926092312/http://www.freewebs.com/airkolkata/birenda1.html A Short Biography of Birendra Krishna Bhadra]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110705114228/http://mahalaya.in/ Birendra Krishna Bhadra Tribute]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhadra, Birendra Krishna}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengalis]]
[[Category:Male actors from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Scottish Church College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Indian male singers]]
[[Category:Indian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Durga Puja]]
[[Category:Indian male radio actors]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Indian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Bengali theatre]]
[[Category:All India Radio people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:Singers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century male singers]]

Birendra Krishna Bhadra - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:05, 2 January 2022