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Possibly in contemporary popularity—but the claim is a qualified judgment, not a proven ranking. A 2019 Scroll feature described Pandey Bechan Sharma, known as Ugra, as “arguably even more popular than Premchand at the time.” It gave no comparative readership, sales, circulation or print-run figures, so the claim is best understood as a description of Ugra’s prominence and notoriety in a particular period, not a numerical result or a verdict on literary stature.
Who was Pandey Bechan Sharma ‘Ugra’?
Ugra was the pen name of Pandey Bechan Sharma, a Hindi writer, journalist and playwright associated with the Premchand era. Hindwi gives his lifespan as 1900–1967 and associates him with Mirzapur; its profile classifies him as a Hindi prose writer and journalist. Hindwi’s profile and catalogue lists works including “Uski Maa,” “Ganga, Gangadatt aur Gangi” and “Khudaram.”
A Scroll feature reports that Sharma adopted the name Ugra after a poem appeared in the publication Swadesh in 1919. It also describes his work with publications including Aaj and Matwala, where he sometimes helped edit. These details are reported by the feature, which draws some early-life information from Ugra’s autobiography, Apni Khabar. Read the Scroll feature.
A Ministry of Culture search result also associates Ugra with a 1919 poem titled “Ahwan,” but the linked page is not available at the cited address; that detail cannot be independently confirmed from the page. Ministry of Culture repository record.
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What does “more popular than Premchand” mean?
The comparison comes from Saudamini Deo’s 2019 Scroll feature, whose headline says Ugra’s provocative, satirical works had made him more popular than Premchand. In the article, the wording is expressly qualified: Ugra was “arguably even more popular than Premchand at the time.” The feature characterizes him as a highly popular and controversial writer, but supplies no figures comparing the two writers’ audiences, book sales, circulation or print runs.
That distinction matters. Popularity can describe public attention or notoriety in a particular moment; it does not by itself measure lasting influence, critical reputation or canonical standing. The sources available here do not establish a shared metric that could rank Ugra and Premchand overall. The defensible conclusion is narrower: one retrospective account presents Ugra as possibly more popular during a particular period, without quantitative evidence to verify the comparison.
Why did Ugra attract attention?
Ugra wrote journalism, satire, drama and provocative fiction. His collection Chocolate became a focus of debate over its depiction of male same-sex desire and the moral-reform arguments surrounding it. A separate Scroll analysis discusses the contested reception of the work and distinguishes that controversy from Ugra’s imprisonment: the feature on his life reports a 1924 British warrant and imprisonment in connection with an anti-colonial issue of Swadesh, not because of the stories in Chocolate.
Scroll also reports Ugra’s response to criticism: “if there is any art in reality, then there is art in my writing.” The line is attributed to Ugra in the feature, rather than presented there with a direct primary document. For the collection’s history and the debate around it, see Scroll’s analysis of Chocolate.
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Premchand’s praise shows a literary connection, not a popularity score
The writers were not simply rivals. A 2025 scholarly article by Haris Qadeer reports that Premchand praised Ugra’s play Mahatma Isa, saying it “made Hindi proud” and calling it “a high-standard original drama.” Qadeer’s discussion places this praise within Premchand’s engagement with colonial Hindi theatre. It is evidence of Premchand’s appreciation of Ugra’s play, but it does not substantiate a comparative popularity ranking. Read Qadeer’s article.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can readers start with Ugra’s writing?
Hindwi’s catalogue offers examples of Ugra’s Hindi works, while Apni Khabar is relevant for readers interested in the autobiographical account cited in the Scroll feature. For readers seeking English translations, a scholarly introduction identifies Ruth Vanita’s collection Pandey Bechan Sharma ‘Ugra’, Chocolate, and Other Writings on Male-male Desire. The cited publisher material establishes the translation’s title and relevance; it does not confirm current edition details or retail availability. See the scholarly introduction to the translated collection.
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