Ajitesh Bandopadhyay ( bn, অজিতেশ বন্দোপাধ্যায়; born: 30 September 1933 ― 13 October 1983) was an actor, playwright, activist and director. He along with

Shambhu Mitra Sombhu Mitra (22 August 1915 – 19 May 1997) was an Indian film and stage actor, director, playwright, reciter and an Indian theatre personality, known especially for his involvement in Bengali theatre, where he is considered a pioneer. ...

and

Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutta () (29 March 1929 – 19 August 1993) was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the "Little T ...

are considered to be the doyens of Bengali theatre of the post - Independence era.

Early life

He was born as Ajit, at Ropogram in

Purulia District Purulia district (Pron: puruliːaː) is one of the twenty-three districts of West Bengal state in Eastern India. Purulia is the administrative headquarters of the district. Some of the other important towns of Purulia district are Raghunathpur- ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

at his maternal uncle's house. His native village was Kenda situated in the

Raniganj Raniganj is a neighbourhood in Asansol of Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is governed by Asansol Municipal Corporation Geography Location Raniganj is located at . It has an average elevation of 91 metr ...

region of

Paschim Bardhaman district Paschim Bardhaman district is a predominantly urban mining-industrial district in West Bengal. The headquarter of the district is Asansol. It was formed on 7 April 2017 after bifurcation of the erstwhile Bardhaman district as the 23rd district o ...

. He was the eldest son of coal miner Bhubhanmohan and Lakshmirani. Having graduated from Maharaja Manindra Chandra College,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, he taught for few years in the same college and in

South Point School South Point is a higher-secondary co-educational private school located in Kolkata, West Bengal and affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education, consisting of three organisations – South Point School (Nursery to Class V), South Poi ...

before plunging himself in the world of theatre by joining the '' Nandikar'' group in 1960.

Theatre

Prior to joining '' Nandikar'', he had been in close touch with the IPTA (''Indian Peoples' Theatre Association'') and was both directing and performing a number of its stage productions. While with '' Nandikar'', Ajitesh along with Rudraprasad Sengupta, Asit Bandopadhyay and Keya Chakrabarty, staged and performed many successful plays - mostly adaptations of ''

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career a ...

'', ''

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

'', ''

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

'' and such ''stalwarts''; of these, few like ''Antigone'', ''Teen Poysar Pala'' (adapted from ''Three Penny Opera''), ''Manjari Aamer Manjari'' (adapted from ''Cherry Orchard'') not only drew large audiences but created milestones of success even at the national level. Plays like ''Bhalomanusher Pala'' and ''Sher Afgan'' met with same success. As a recognition of his directorial ventures and contribution to theatre, he was honoured with the ''Sangeet Natak Academy Award'' in 1976 at the age of 42, one of the youngest recipients of this nationally prestigious award. In the early 1970s, he was described by none other than

Sombhu Mitra Sombhu Mitra (22 August 1915 – 19 May 1997) was an Indian film and stage actor, director, playwright, reciter and an Indian theatre personality, known especially for his involvement in Bengali theatre, where he is considered a pioneer. ...

as the "most powerful performer of the Bengal theatre in current times". In 1977, he left Nandikar and formed his own theatrical group '' Nandimukh'' through which he continued his stage productions and performances with equal aplomb.

Film

At the same time, his performance on the silver screen, particularly as a character-actor, in films like ''Haate Bajare'', '' Chhuti'', ''

Atithi Atithi may refer to: * ''Atithi Devo Bhava'', meaning the Guest is equal to God as per Hindu scripture * ''Atithi'' (1965 film), a 1965 Bengali film * '' Atithee'', a 1978 Hindi film * ''Atithi'' (2002 film), a 2002 Kannada film * ''Atithi'' (200 ...

'', '' Kuheli'' followed by ''Ganadevata'', ''Aaj Kaal Porshur Galpo'', '' Megh o Roudra'', '' Thagini'', ''Nidhiram Sardar'', ''Hire Manik'', ''

Kapalkundala ''Kapalkundala'' ( bn, কপালকুণ্ডলা) is a Bengali romance novel by Indian writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Published in 1866, it is a story of a forest-dwelling girl named Kapalkundala, who fell in love with and marr ...

'', ''Samjhauta'' (in Hindi) established him as a powerful thespian of the stage and screen. He was actively involved with ''radio-plays'' and ''Jatra'' also. An instance of his integrity and devotion is found when he left his teaching career on being cast for the role of the antagonist in ''Haate Bajare'' Directed by

Tapan Sinha Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked bot ...

stating that his acting might negatively impact the young minds.

Death

His untimely demise (at the age of 50) left a void, especially in Bengal theatre, which is, perhaps, still felt by one and many.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandopadhyay, Ajitesh 1933 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights People from Purulia district Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian theatre directors 20th-century Indian male actors Male actors from Kolkata Male actors from West Bengal 20th-century Indian male writers Maharaja Manindra Chandra College alumni Dramatists and playwrights from West Bengal