Pritish Nandy (1951-2025), the omnipresent person

Poet, producer, magazine editor and MP Pritish Nandy died of a heart attack in Mumbai on Wednesday (January 8, 2025). He was 73 years old.

Nandi was one of those unique bridge-builders in Indian art and literature. If a path seemed to present itself, Nandi would move forward decisively and fearlessly. In an extremely diverse career, he offered a synthesis between poetry and prose, between print and television, between intellectual artistic endeavor and popular taste.

One of the most dynamic cultural figures, he moved from literature to journalism and then to politics and film. His tastes were high but he enjoyed the high life. He loved both Edward Said and Woody Allen. Most importantly, he had a keen eye and ear for sensing small movements in the zeitgeist, which is the mark of a true newsman. Needless to say, he embodied many living contradictions: he was both a bhadralok and a VJ, a literary firebrand and a fashionista. In the field of Internet journalism, he was a ‘trend-setter’.

tv show days

Those who grew up in the 1990s will remember his popular Doordarshan show, The Pritish Nandy Show, where he interviewed playwrights of that disruptive decade: Bal Thackeray, Harshad Mehta, Vikram Seth, MF Hussain. Nandi’s anchorship since that time is a model of humble perseverance; He seemed to be comforting Thackeray with a measured nod and smile as he inquired about Shiv Sena’s growing strength on the streets outside Maharashtra. His style in the show reflected the fluidity of his technique: with a goatee and shaved head, he usually held a pen in hand, the professional cadence in his voice matched by his dress sense, which ranged from waistcoats and jackets to casuals. Could have been even a yellow sweater. ,

Nandi was born in 1951 in Bhagalpur, Bihar, where his mother was on maternity leave. He grew up in Kolkata at a time of thrilling socio-political turmoil. The Naxalite movement, centered in the city’s educational centres, had destabilized student life, but there was refuge and inspiration in art. Nandy said of the heady atmosphere of that time, “Ravi Shankar was on the world stage, Satyajit Ray was a cinema star, Badal Sarkar had invented street theatre, Bade Ghulam Ali was composing music for films.”

He wrote his first volume of poetry, Of Gods and Olives, at the age of 17. It was published by Purushottam Lal Writers’ Workshop, an important haven and incubator for emerging Indian poets writing in English. Over the next decade, Nandy would keep himself busy with translations and publishing over 40 poems, exploring themes of love, urban alienation and desire “Come, let’s pretend it’s a ritual // It’s the hand in your hair, “Your tongue is searching for me: this cataclysmic despair,” begins the title poem nowhere manPublished in 1976). One of Nandy’s contemporaries was Kamala Das, whose confessional style and thematic preoccupations he seemed to share. She was awarded the Padma Shri at the incredible age of 27.

Nandy’s transfer to the glamorous world of English journalism happened by chance. A chance meeting during a flight landed him the position of Publishing Director in the Times of India Group. He also edited The Illustrated Weekly of Indiais a long-running news magazine, and is credited with reinvigorating its reportage in the 1980s.

However, cinema was always on the horizon. Nandi, through his editing filmfareHad built strong relationships with the stalwarts of the Hindi film industry. He was close to Yash Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan, Mahesh Bhatt and, as Anupam Kher tweeted on Wednesday, put the actor on the cover. filmfare In his days of struggle. He also advocated the parallel cinema movement and raised his voice against censorship in his editorials and columns. When Deepa Mehta was released Fire (1996), centered on a homosexual relationship in a conservative Hindu family, led to violent protests, with Nandy said to have defended the film. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and its moral indiscretions were one of Nandy’s favorite targets, and he denounced their role as a ‘nanny’ to Indian society.

The economic reforms of the 1990s changed mass media in India, and the ever-vigilant Nandy changed with it. Having touched and transformed print and electronic media – even launching India’s first cyber café in 1996 – Nandy was well able to predict the boom of Hindi cinema in the new millennium.

film making skills

His banner, Pritish Nandy Communications, initially produced shows for Doordarshan, but moved into feature film production at the turn of the century. These were diverse projects, but they betrayed Nandy’s capacity for urban narratives and challenging social conventions. There were strange comedies (Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi, Mumbai Matinee, Pyaar Ke Side Effects) but left-of-field hard-hitters also like Jasmine And thousands of wishes like this,

In a post on The film studio would have liked it.

“Let’s make it,” he said. When no one believed in me or my ideas, Mr. Pritish Nandy gave me the strength to dare, dream, and tell stories that mattered to me – no matter what. Mehta wrote, “He ultimately didn’t make Omerta, but I am deeply grateful for the film and my journey from Shahid to him.”

Nandy’s film enthusiasm was youthful and omnipresent; He spoke about Hitchcock with Kishore Kumar and was able to indulge in a comparative analysis of Guy Ritchie gentle And Leave it, folks.

Politics was another romance. La Martiniere Don, who grew up reading Che and Camus, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1998, representing Maharashtra on the (then undivided) Shiv Sena ticket. In a humorous column on becoming an MP, Nandy wrote about how she was given fashion and lifestyle advice.

“The first thing people told me I needed to do to be taken seriously was to change my look. Stop wearing jeans. Go to Fab India and buy yourself some khadi kurta pajamas or, better yet, wear a dhoti.” Elsewhere, he said he wanted to return a “certain credibility” to Indian politics. “If I feel that I am not able to do it, I can reconsider my decision later.” On ideological incompatibility between himself and the Army, he had said, “You cannot whitewash any party. The Army will get the image it deserves for the performance it deserves. However, if anyone asks me for assistance in the area of ​​media relations, I will provide them assistance.

animal lover

In 2020, Nandi, a vegetarian, led an online petition to ban the sale of dog meat in Nagaland. A lifelong animal lover, he was one of the founding members, along with Maneka Gandhi, of People for Animals, one of India’s largest animal welfare NGOs. In a tribute, PETA India Vice President Sachin Bangera wrote, “A dedicated supporter of PETA India, Pritish Nandy was instrumental in promoting community dog ​​adoption. He appeared in a campaign urging the public to adopt dogs in need and emphasizing the importance of giving them loving homes. Nandy himself expressed this love clearly: “Every time a dog or cat dies it’s like a family member dies,” he tweeted. “It takes you years to eventually recover from it. In fact, I never do that. I keep his pictures on the wall. My walls are filled with sorrow.”