25 Facts About Pritish Nandy

Pritish Nandy was an Indian poet, painter, journalist, politician, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, television and streaming content.

Pritish Nandy was a parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, elected on a ticket from the Shiv Sena.

Pritish Nandy authored forty books of poetry in English and translated poems by other writers from Bengali, Urdu and Punjabi into English as well as a new version of the Isha Upanishad.

Pritish Nandy was the Publishing Director of The Times of India Group between 1982 and 1991, and served as editor for The Illustrated Weekly of India, The Independent, and Filmfare.

Pritish Nandy held six exhibitions of his paintings and calligraphy.

Pritish Nandy founded Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd, the content company, in 1993.

Pritish Nandy founded People for Animals, India's first animal rights NGO with Maneka Gandhi.

Pritish Nandy was born in Bhagalpur in the state of Bihar in eastern India to a Bengali family, self-identifying as an agnostic.

Pritish Nandy is the son of Satish Chandra Nandy and Prafulla Nalini Nandy, and brother of Ashis Nandy and Manish Nandy.

Pritish Nandy was educated at La Martiniere College and, briefly, at Presidency College in Kolkata, where he spent the first 28 years of his life.

Pritish Nandy died at his Mumbai home, on 8 January 2025, at the age of 73.

In July 1981 Pritish Nandy was nominated as a Poet Laureate by the World Academy of Arts and Culture at the Fifth World Congress of Poets in San Francisco.

Pritish Nandy was the publishing director of The Times of India between 1982 and 1991.

Pritish Nandy was managing editor of the group and editor and publisher of The Illustrated Weekly of India during its most successful decade.

Pritish Nandy was chairman of Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd, popularly known as PNC and well known for its films, TV shows, and streaming content.

Pritish Nandy was a columnist with The Times of India, Dainik Bhaskar, Divya Bhaskar and Sangbad Pratidin.

Pritish Nandy was one of the first internet evangelists in India and opened India's first cyber cafe in 1996 at Hotel Leela Kempinski in Mumbai.

Pritish Nandy was elected to the Rajya Sabha representing Maharashtra, the upper house of the Indian parliament, in July 1998.

Pritish Nandy was a member of parliament for six years and was on a number of committees including the National Committee to Celebrate 50 years of Independence, the Parliamentary Committee for Defence, the Parliamentary Committee for Communications, the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs.

Pritish Nandy worked for many causes but is best known as the founder of People for Animals, India's largest animal protection NGO that Maneka Gandhi, its co-founder, heads and runs as chairperson.

Pritish Nandy received the International Humanitarian Award at the Genesis Awards in Los Angeles in 2012, supported by the Humane Society of the United States, the largest animal protection body in the US.

On 28 November 2012, Pritish Nandy founded World Compassion Day, a platform for promoting the values of compassion and ahimsa, and the first lecture on the occasion was delivered in Mumbai by the 14th Dalai Lama who spoke on the ethical treatment of animals.

The company's first programme was a chat show titled The Pritish Nandy Show which aired on Doordarshan, India's public broadcasting channel.

Pritish Nandy presented over 500 news and current affairs shows on Doordarshan, Zee TV and Sony TV.

Pritish Nandy made 24 films over the years, which won numerous awards and much critical acclaim.