Rituparno Ghosh was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for his second feature film Unishe April which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film. Having won 19 National Awards, along with his contemporaries Aparna Sen and Goutam Ghose, Rituparno heralded contemporary Bengali cinema to greater heights. Ghosh died on 30 May 2013 in Kolkata after a heart attack. Ghosh was also one of the openly homosexual personalities in Indian cinema.
The Pashchimbanga Bangla Akademi is the official regulatory body of the Bengali language in West Bengal, India. It was founded on 20 May 1986 in Kolkata to act as the official authority of the language and is entrusted with the responsibility of reforming Bengali spelling and grammar, compiling dictionaries, encyclopedias and terminologies and promoting Bengali language and culture in West Bengal. Though the Akademi has no enforcement power over their rules and regulations, they are widely accepted by the Governments of West Bengal and Tripura as well as a considerable number of private publishing houses and institutions such as the Oxford University Press and the Ramakrishna Mission.
Suchitra Mitra was an Indian singer, composer, artist exponent of Rabindra Sangeet or the songs of Bengal's poet laureate Rabindranath Tagore, professor, and the first woman Sheriff of Kolkata. As an academic, she remained a professor and the Head of Rabindra Sangeet Department at the Rabindra Bharati University until 1984. Mitra was a playback singer in Bengali films and was associated for many years with the Indian People's Theatre Association.
Bengali theatre primarily refers to theatre performed in the Bengali language. Bengali theatre is produced mainly in West Bengal, and in Bangladesh. The term may also refer to some Hindi theatres which are accepted by the Bengali people.
Theatre Formation Paribartak is a group theatre situated in the Howrah district of West Bengal, India. It produces short theatres, one-act plays and full-length plays in Bengali, English and Hindi. Its performances are held in prosceniums, intimate spaces, streets and in virtual platforms. It also organizes workshops for its own actors. Before May 2005, it was a unit of another organization that now goes under the name of Changers' Foundation Paribartak.
Santidev Ghose was an Indian author, singer, actor, dancer and maestro of Rabindra Sangeet.
Suman Mukherjee is an Indian film director.His popular films are Herbert (film), Kangal Malsat, Shesher Kobita (2014).
Koushik Sen is an Indian actor in film, television and theatre, based in Kolkata. He is the director of the theatre group Swapnasandhani. He won a Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for best supporting actor for his performance in the Mrinal Sen directed film Aamar Bhuvan. He was awarded Girish Purashkar 2023 by the Cultural Department of the Government of West Bengal for his extraordinary contributions to theatre. This year he was also awarded Telly Academy Best Actor Award for Godhuli Alap series.
Bratyabrata Basu Roy Chowdhury, also known as Bratya Basu, is an Indian actor, stage director, playwright, film director, professor and politician who has been the Education Minister of West Bengal since 2021. He has also assumed the same office in the First Mamata Banerjee ministry. In May 2016, Basu was assigned the portfolios of Tourism, Science Technology and Bio-Technology, Information Technology and Electronics. He has been elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, from the Dum Dum constituency since the 2011 Assembly Election of West Bengal. Basu is presently the Chairperson of Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi and Minerva Natyasanskriti Charchakendra under the governance of the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, West Bengal.
Swapnasandhani is a Bengali theater group from Kolkata. The group was founded on 29 May 1992. Swapnasandhani has been marked by the acting and direction of Kaushik Sen.
The group theatre of Kolkata refers to a tradition in theatres in the Indian city Kolkata, which developed in the 1940s as an alternative to entertainment-oriented theatres. As opposed to commercial theatres, group theatre is "a theatre that is not professional or commercial", characterized by its tendency for experimentation in theme, content and production, and its aim of using the proscenium stage to highlight social messages, rather than having primarily making-money objectives.
Sabujpatra was a liberal and pro-Tagore Bengali magazine. It was named Sabujpatra as its cover page was illustrated by a green palmleaf drawn by Nandalal Bose. It was edited by Pramatha Chaudhuri and first published on 25th Baishakh 1321 BS. He was mentored and inspired by Rabindranath Tagore to publish such a journal. The magazine shunned advertisements and pictures to uphold about the ideals and standards the editor believed in. In the first phase it was being published up to 1329 BS (1922). Its second phase started in 1332 BS. The magazine finally folded in 1334 BS (1927).
Shaoli Mitra [alternatively spelt as Shaonli Mitra ; c. 1948 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian Bengali theatre and film actress, director, and playwright. She played the role of Bangabala in Ritwik Ghatak's Jukti Takko Aar Gappo. She is the daughter of Sombhu Mitra and Tripti Mitra, who were also theatre personalities.
Pancham Baidik is a Bengali theatre group directed by Shaoli Mitra. Nathabati Anaathabat, the group's first production was staged in 1983.
Muktodhara is a 2012 Bengali film directed by Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy. This is a story about the prisoners of a correctional home ‒ Presidency jail who all have a dark past life but here they are being reformed day by day.
Purba Paschim is a Bengali theatre group of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The group was founded in 2005 and has staged several plays like Babli, Ashalin etc. The famous productions of the group are "Patalbabu Filmstar" based on Satyajit Roy's story and " Antony Soudamini" Directed By Soumitra Mitra, Tagores Play Chaturanga Directed By Bratya Basu acted by Kushal Chakraborty, Chaity Ghoshal, Debdut Ghosh, Soumitra Mitra. Notable people like Biswajit Chakraborty, Gargi roychoudhry, Shaantilal Mukherjee, Chaity Ghosal, Debdut Ghosh, Kanchana Moitro, Subhrajeet Dutta, Kushal Chakraborty, Film Actor Rahul acted in this Group. In the Festivals of this Group We have seen, Amman Ali Khan, Ayaan Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore, Soumitra Chatterjee, Mohan Aghase, Gulzar, Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, Nandita Das and Many Others.
Poshu Khamar is a political Bengali drama produced by the theatre group Pancham Baidik and directed by Arpita Ghosh. The drama was Bengali adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Political administration attempted to ban the staging of this drama because of its political sensitivity and the upcoming election.
Jogajog is a 2015 Bengali film adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's 1929 novel of the same name directed by Sekhar Das.
Chirakumar Sabha is a 1932 Indian Bengali drama film directed by Premankur Atorthy. The music of the film was composed by R. C. Boral who used Tagore's songs as lyrics. It was one of the first of Rabindranath Tagore's works to be made into a film. The film was remade in 1956 by Debaki Bose.
Strir Patra is a 1972 Bengali film, directed by Purnendu Patri, based on a short story by Rabindranath Tagore. Madhabi Mukherjee plays the lead role. Tagore's story, first published in 1914, is considered to be a path-breaking feminist text. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali, as well as a number of BFJA Awards.
