Sankar, noted Bengali writer and Sahitya Akademi awardee, passes away at 92
Telegraph | 20 February 2026
Mani Shankar Mukherjee, known in Bengali literature by his pen name Sankar, passed away on Friday at a private hospital in Calcutta.
Born in Howrah in December 7, 1933, Sankar, still in his teens, served as a clerk to the last British barrister Noel Frederick Barwell at the Calcutta High Court.
His experience with Barwell became the source for his first book Koto Ajanare, which catapulted him to instant literary stardom.
Sankar went on to pen many more novels, many of which made it to the silver screen. Two films from Satyajit Ray’s city trilogy – Seemabaddha and Jana Aranya - were based on Sankar’s novels.
The 1968 hit Chowringhee, starring Uttam Kumar and Subhendu Chatterjee in the lead was also based on a novel by Sankar.
He also wrote several books on Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Swami Vivekananda.
In 2021, he was conferred with a Sahitya Akademi award.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee mourned the death of 92-year-old Bengali author in a heartfelt post, calling it an irreplaceable loss to Bengali literature.
"I am deeply shocked and saddened by the passing of the renowned Bengali litterateur Mani Shankar Mukhopadhyay (Shankar). His death marks the fall of one of the brightest stars in the world of Bengali literature," posted Mamata on X in Bengali.
"From Chowringhee to Koto Ajanaare, from Seemabaddha to Jana Aranya—his timeless creations have enchanted generations of Bengali readers. Through his pen, the untold stories of the struggles of ordinary people came vividly to life. His profound research and works on Swami Vivekananda, in particular, remain an invaluable treasure for us. His demise is an irreparable loss to our cultural world," she added.