The 76th birth anniversary of prolific author, dramatist, screenwriter and director Humayun Ahmed, will be observed on Wednesday (Nov 13).

The polymath, best known for his fictional characterisations and ‘magic-realism’ based writings, was born in Kutubpur of Netrakona district on 13 November 1948.

Making his breakthrough with his debut novel “Nondito Noroke” (1972), Humayun wrote more than 200 fictions and non-fiction, all bestsellers in Bangladesh.

Humayun Ahmed received the Ekushey Padak, Bangla Academy Award, Lekhak Shibir Award, Shishu Academy Award, Michael Madhusudan Padak, Bachsas Award and more, for his outstanding contributions to the Bengali culture and entertainment sphere.

He debuted with his drama “Prothom Prohor” (1983) for Bangladesh Television (BTV). His successful journey in television continued with popular drama serials “Ei Shob Din Ratri”, “Bohubrihi”, “Ayomoy”, “Nokkhotrer Raat”, “Aaj Robibar” and most notably, “Kothao Keu Nei”.

He also explored success as a filmmaker in the early 1990s and went on to make a total of eight films in his filmmaking career, each based on his own novels. Two of his films, “Syamol Chhaya” (2004) and “Ghetuputra Komola” (2012), were the official Bangladeshi submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in their respective releasing years.

He received seven Bangladesh National Film Awards in different categories for the films “Shonkhonil Karagar” (as screenwriter), “Aguner Poroshmoni”, “Daruchini Dwip” and “Ghetuputra Komola”.

The author breathed his last on 19 July 2012 at a hospital in New York, USA.