Anjan Dutt is an Indian film director, actor, and singer-songwriter known for his work in the Bengali alternative music genre anyodharar gaan. As an actor, Dutta began his career in Bengali cinema in the Mrinal Sen film Chaalchitra, for which he won the best newcomer actor award at the Venice Film Festival. He acted in Aparna Sen's hit film, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. In 2018 he featured in Swapnasandhani's new play Taraye Taraye, as Vincent van Gogh, under the direction of Kaushik Sen.
Nandikar is a theatre group in India. The group has its headquarters in Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, but works around the world.
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.
Rudraprasad Sengupta is a Bengali Indian actor, director and cultural critic.
Koushik Sen is an Indian actor in film, television, OTT and theatre, based in Kolkata. He is the founder and director of the theatre group Swapnasandhani. He won the 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. In 2024 he was awarded Telly Academy Best Actor Award for Godhuli Alap series.
Khaled Choudhury was a theatre personality and artist of Bengal. He worked for various directors of both Bengali and Hindi plays, including Sombhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra, and Shyamanand Jalan in various capacities — creating the Stage, sets and costumes and later as music director. He was a bachelor. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to theatre in India's Republic Day Honours List on 26 January 2012. He died on 30 April 2014 in Kolkata.
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.
Swatilekha Sengupta was a Bengali actress. She had received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for her contribution to Indian theatre as an actor.
Debshankar Haldar is a Bengali theatre actor with a long career in Bengali theatre groups such as Nandikar, Rangapat, Natyaranga, Sudrak, Gandhar, Bratyajon, Sansriti and Blank Verse. Known for his versatility, he played the role of Debabrata Biswas in ‘Bratyajon’'s production ‘Ruddha Sangeet’, Swami Vivekananda in Lokkrishti's Biley and the historical theatrical figure Sisir Kumar Bhaduri in Indraranga's Nisshanga Samrat. Debshankar has also worked in films.
Sohini Sengupta is an Indian film and theatre actress. Daughter of actor Rudraprasad Sengupta and Swatilekha Sengupta, who are also active in theatre, Sohini is one of the leading actors of the Bengali theatre group Nandikar. As a member of the group, she has worked with prominent theatre personalities such as Debshankar Halder, Sumanto Gangopadhyay and Parthapratim Deb, and was awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi's 2007 Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for contributions to theatre. She also played a supporting role in Aparna Sen’s film Paromitar Ek Din (2000) for which she won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2000 National Film Awards.
Muktodhara is a 2012 Bengali Prison 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.
Biley or Bilay is a 2012 Bengali drama created by Bengali theatre group Lokkrishti, This is a dramatisation of the life and works of Swami Vivekananda. Debshankar Haldar played the lead role. Phalguni Chattopadhyay directed this drama and Ujjwal Chattopadhyay was the playwright.
Meghnad Bhattacharya is a Bengali theatre director and actor. He is the artistic director of Bengali theatre group Sayak. He has also acted in few Bengali films and television serials. In 1979 under the leadership of Bhattacharya and SayakBijon Theatre was established.
Alik Sukh is a 2013 Bengali Medical psychological thriller based on the novel Alikh Sukh by Suchitra Bhattacharya. The film is directed by the duo Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy, starring Debshankar Haldar, Rituparna Sengupta and Sohini Sengupta in the lead roles. It was released on 19 July 2013. The storyline is based on a novel of Bengali novelist Suchitra Bhattacharya.
Nilkantha Bagchi is an iconic Bengali cinema character that first appeared in 1977 in Ritwik Ghatak's Jukti Takko Aar Gappo. In the 2013 film Meghe Dhaka Tara, the character portrayed by Saswata Chatterjee was named Nilkantha Bagchi. Chatterjee's character was based on the personality of Ritwik Ghatak.
Ajitesh Bandopadhyay was an Indian actor, playwright, activist and director. He along with Shambhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt are considered to be the doyens of Bengali theatre of the post - Independence era.
Asit Bandopadhyay was a Bengali playwright, screenwriter, actor and director. He was associated with the Nandikar theater group. He lived and worked in Kolkata, India.
Pandab Goenda is an Indian Bengali-language television detective series that premiered on 7 September 2020, and aired on Zee Bangla. The show based on the story of Pandab Goenda, starred Rob Dey, Rishav Chakraborty, Mayukh Chatterjee, Anumita Dutta and Shritama Mitra.
Parthapratim Deb is an Indian actor, director, playwright, singer and music composer in Bengali theater. He is a member of Nandikar since 1986 and also runs his own theatre organization, Baghajatin Alaap in 2005.
