Barun Chanda

After obtaining a master’s in English, Barun Chanda taught for a while in a college, before moving over to advertising which he confesses was an absolutely exhilarating experience. In between he appeared in Satyajit Ray’s Seemabaddha as its protagonist. The film not only won the National Award for the best film of the year, but also landed him a special prize for his acting.

Early in 2000 he decided to quit advertising and become a whole-time writer. Film offers started pouring in again after a self-imposed exile for almost twenty years.

Today, Barun has three enduring passions in life – acting, writing and travelling, but not necessarily in that order. He has four Bengali and two English books to his credit, the last two being Coke and Murder in the Monastery, both crime thrillers. The book on Ray is his first non-fiction work.