Puranjit Dasgupta (born 21 August 1982) better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Mantra, is an Indian actor, film director and producer, who started his career as a

Radio jockey A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a radi ...

. He is known for his portrayal of Bhaskar Bose in

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

's detective thriller podcast ''Bhaskar Bose'' and

Genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic m ...

Disney India The Walt Disney Company India Private Limited, known simply as Disney India, is the Indian subsidiary of the Indo Pacific region of the American media and entertainment conglomerate The Walt Disney Company and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharasht ...

's broadway-style musical ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

'' He appeared in various Hindi films, notably ''

Panipat Panipat () is a historic city in Haryana, India. It is 95 km north of Delhi and 169 km south of Chandigarh on NH-1. The three major battles fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761 took place near the city. The city is famous in India as the "C ...

'' (2019), '' High Jack'' (2018), ''

Rebellious Flower Rebellious Flower is a 2016 Hindi-language biographical film directed by Krishan Hooda. The directorial debut written and produced by Jagdish Bharti is based on the early years of Rajneesh Osho. The film won Special Mention Jury Award at 12th Sa ...

'' (2016), ''

London, Paris, New York ''London, Paris, New York'' also known by the initialism ''LPNY'', is 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Anu Menon, with Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead roles. The official theatrical trailer was ...

'' (2012), '' Bheja Fry 2'' (2011), ''

Game A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

'' (2011) and '' Tum Mile'' (2009). He is the founder of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

based production company, Mantramugdh Productions. He gained a name as a host, anchoring for TV shows like ''

India's Got Talent India's Got Talent is a televised Indian Hindi language talent show series and is part of the '' Got Talent franchise''. The program is produced and distributed by Fremantle. The show aired on Colors TV till season 8; since season 9 the show is ...

'', ''

Comedy Circus ''The Comedy Circus Show '' is an Indian comedy show that aired on Sony Entertainment Television. Overview Comedy Circus 1: Hindi TV Show where daily soap stars perform stand-up comedy. Paired with the "finest" stand up talent from India an ...

'', and ''

Zara Nachke Dikha ''Zara Nachke Dikha'' ''(English: Show Me Your Dance)'' is an Indian dance reality show originally aired on STAR One but then aired on STAR Plus. The series debuted on 14 July 2008 and was hosted by Karan Singh Grover and Shweta Gulati. All ...

'', and also hosted the Pro Kabaddi League, a

Kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

league for the past seven seasons.

Early life

He was born to Chandra Dasgupta, an actress who worked in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and Prabir Dasgupta, a book publisher. He spent his childhood years in

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

and did most of his schooling at Indore Public School, Indore. Before venturing into the media industry, he was in the hospitality business from 1996 to 2000 and worked as a front desk receptionist and manager for The Taj Hotel.

Career

Radio

RJ Mantra started his career with

Radio Mirchi Radio Mirchi (also known as 98.3 Mirchi) is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the EntertainmentNetwork India Ltd (ENIL), which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group. ''Mirchi'' is Hindi for re ...

, the India's first private

FM station FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is capab ...

in 2001. He moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

in 2003 and joined Radio City, where he hosted ''Route 91''. He then moved on to work with Red FM 93.5, where he also hosted Radio show, ''Mumbai Local''. He took a break from Radio in 2012. He returned to Radio in February 2017 with 92.7 Big FM's radio drama ''Lamhe With Mantra'', a fiction-based show based on a particular theme of romance for each day.

Films

Mantra made his film debut as an actor with

Vishesh Films Vishesh Films is an Indian film company founded in 1986 and currently owned by Mukesh Bhatt. Vishesh Films is one of the most successful Indian film production houses. The production company is named after Vishesh Bhatt, the son of Mukesh Bhat ...

' '' Tum Mile'' in 2009, where he appeared as the second lead Vicky. He went on to appear in

Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai B ...

starrer ''

'' (2011), followed by

Sagar Ballary Sagar Ballary (born in 1975) is an Indian film director, most known for his films, like '' Bheja Fry'' (2007), '' Bheja Fry 2'' (2011) and ''Bhatukli'' (Marathi) (2014). Early life and career Born in Mumbai, India in 1975, Ballary was raised in ...

's comedy film, '' Bheja Fry 2'' (2011). He played the role of Nandu, a gangster in ''

Hum Tum Shabana ''Hum Tum Shabana'' () is a 2011 Indian romantic comedy film. It stars Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade & Minissha Lamba in lead roles. Plot ''Hum Tum Shabana'' is a comedy movie revolving around three characters, played by Tusshar Kapoor, Shrey ...

'' (2011) and a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

-based sex toy shop owner in ''

'' (2012). In 2016's ''

'', a biopic of spiritual leader Osho Rajneesh, Mantra played the triple role of three spiritual guides who help Osho find enlightenment. The film was shot in real locations in rural

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

Central India Central India is a loosely defined geographical region of India. There is no clear official definition and various ones may be used. One common definition consists of the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which are included in alm ...

. In 2018, he was seen in

Akarsh Khurana Akarsh Khurana is an Indian director, writer and actor, son of actor Akash Khurana, who is critically acclaimed for writing and directing various shows. His notable works are TVF Tripling (as a writer), Yeh Meri Family (actor), Mismatched (a ...

's comedy film, '' High Jack'', where he played a hijacker, Vinit. He portrayed the role of

Najib ad-Dawlah Najib ad-Dawlah ( ps, نجيب الدوله), also known as Najib Khan Yousafzai ( ps, نجيب خان), was a Rohilla Yousafzai Afghan who earlier served as a Mughal serviceman but later deserted the cause of the Mughals and joined Ahmed S ...

Ashutosh Gowariker Ashutosh Gowariker (born 15 February 1964) is an Indian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for directing films "set on a huge canvas while boasting of an opulent treatment". His is particularl ...

's 2019 period film ''

'' starring

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though ...

, Arjun Kapoor and

Kriti Sanon Kriti Sanon (born 27 July 1990) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi and Telugu-language films. After pursuing a degree in engineering from the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, she briefly worked as a fashion model. Sanon began h ...

Television and web-series

His first major TV appearance was ''Lagegi'' on UTV's

Bindass Bindass is an Indian pay television Hindi-language Music channel owned by Disney Star, targeted at young people. It was launched on 24 September 2007. History UTV Software Communications launched Bindass as a youth-oriented entertainment chan ...

channel in 2007. The show was later renamed ''Hass ley India''. In 2010, Mantra co-hosted dance reality show, ''

'' with

Jennifer Winget Jennifer Winget (born 30 May 1985) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi television along with Hindi films. She started her career as a child actor with the 1995 film '' Akele Hum Akele Tum'' and made her TV debut with '' Shaka Lak ...

Star Plus StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedie ...

. He played Doubting Dev in a show called '' Mystery Hunters India'' on

Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were e ...

. As a stand-up comedian, he participated in successive ''

''. As a wild card entry, Mantra participated in the sixth season of the celebrity dance reality show ''

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa ''Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'' is an Indian Hindi-language reality television show and the Indian version of BBC's ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and ''Dancing with the Stars''. The show pairs celebrities with professional dancers. Each couple performs pred ...

'' in June 2013. He was evicted from the show after two weeks. He co-hosted reality TV series, ''

'' with

Bharti Singh Bharti Singh (born 3 July 1984) is an Indian comedian and television personality. Singh has created numerous comedy shows as well as hosted various award shows. She participated in the reality shows '' Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5'' (2012), ''Nach Baliy ...

in 2013-2014. Mantra played the main lead in the mythological drama series '' Narayan Narayan'', which aired on Big Magic. His performance as Narad was well received by the audience. He also worked as

Video Jockey A video jockey (abbreviated VJ or sometimes veejay) is an announcer or host who introduces music videos and live performances on commercial music television channels such as MTV, VH1, MuchMusic and Channel V. Origins The term "video jockey" co ...

for

Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Dis ...

and has hosted several television programs, including ''First Day First Show'', ''G-spot''. He hosted the Pro Kabaddi League, a professional-level

league for the past seven seasons. Later, in 2015, he hosted ''Family Fortunes'', an Indian TV game show based on the American game show ''

Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, the ...

'', aired on Big Magic. He also appeared on

Life OK Life OK was an Indian pay television channel owned by Star India Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Dis ...

's '' Har Mard Ka Dard'' in 2016. In 2017, he appeared on

Balaji Telefilms Balaji Telefilms is an Indian company that produces Indian soap operas, reality TV, comedy, game shows, entertainment, and factual programming in several Indian languages. Balaji Telefilms is promoted by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor and is ...

's web series '' Boygiri'', available on

ALTBalaji ALTBalaji is an Indian subscription based video on demand platform which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Ltd. Launched on 16 April 2017, ALTBalaji is the group's foray into the digital entertainment sphere to create original OT ...

. In 2020, he appeared in three

ZEE5 ZEE5 is an Indian subscription video on-demand and over-the-top streaming service, run by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on Web, Andr ...

web series —the rom-com series '' Phone a Friend'', the sci-fi thriller series ''

Bhanwar ''Bhanwar'' is a 1976 Bollywood film directed by Bhappi Sonie. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Randhir Kapoor and Parveen Babi. Cast *Ashok Kumar as Dr. Verma *Randhir Kapoor as Anup *Parveen Babi as Roopa *Aruna Irani as Anju Verma *Ranjeet as ...

'', the thriller series '' The Casino''. He also acted in

MX Player MX Player is an Indian video streaming and video on demand platform developed by MX Media & Entertainment (formerly J2 Interactive). It has over 280 million users globally. The platform currently operates on an ad-supported model and has a stre ...

's crime thriller series ''

High High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

'' and

SonyLIV SonyLIV is an Indian Over-the-top media services, over-the-top freemium Streaming media, streaming platform owned by Culver Max Entertainment. SonyLIV was introduced in 2013 as the first Over-the-top media service, OTT service in India. As a s ...

original series ''Shrikant Bashir''.

Theatre

As a theatre artist, Mantra has performed in more than 100 plays of ''Piya Behrupiya'', a

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

interpretation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...

'' produced by Atul Kumar's The Company Theatre. He performed this two-hour musical drama first at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as a part of the

World Shakespeare Festival The World Shakespeare Festival was a programme of events about William Shakespeare and his work. They took place mostly in London and Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad which accompanied the Olympic Games. It was produced ...

in May 2012, followed by the performances in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

in 2016. In 2018, he was praised across India for his performance as

's hit Broadway style musical ''Aladdin'', which instantly became a crowd favourite. He has done several plays, including Sohaila Kapur's ''Ouch'', Divya Arora's ''The Melody of Love'', Infinite Theatre's ''

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (german: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui, links=no), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago ...

'' and

Rajat Kapoor Rajat Kapoor (born 11 February 1961) is an Indian actor, filmmaker and playwright who works in Hindi cinema. Kapoor was born in Delhi, India. He mainly focused on acting at first. In 2013 he joined the theatre group Chingari in Delhi, later mov ...

's ''Macbeth''.

Audio series and podcasts

Mantra's MnM talkies is the audio wing of his production house MantraMugdh Productions. MnM Talkies specialises in audio dramas and has many shows varying from romance, drama, action, thriller to horror. Some of his shows include ''Kaali Awaazei'', ''Love In The Time Of Corona'', and ''Mine n Yours'', ''Bhaskar Bose'' and ''Virus 2062''. He directed the detective thriller audio series ''Bhaskar Bose'' for the

original, where he depicts the role of protagonist Bhaskar Bose. In 2020, ''Kaali Awaazein'', a fictional 10-episode horror audio web series on

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

's Audible Suno, was written and directed by Mantra, where

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

gave his voice. '' Kaali Awaazein'' was presented by

in January 2020. In March 2021, Mantra directed a new

Original podcast, ''I Hear You'', a paranormal audio series featuring

Aahana Kumra Aahana Kumra is an Indian feature film, television, and theatre actress. Kumra is known for her small screen debut in Sony Entertainment Television's '' Yudh'' with Amitabh Bachchan and also for her lead role in the TV series '' Agent Raghav - ...

, who plays a

based detective Priyamvada Parmar. He directed another

original, ''Darr Ka Raaz with Dr. Phobia'', a psychological horror starring

Rajesh Khera Rajesh Khera (''Rājēśa Khērā'') is an Indian television actor and voice actor who has acted in many Hindi films and is remembered for the role of fashion designer Maddy in '' Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin''. He was recently seen as a contender ...

and

Riya Deepsi Riya Deepsi is an Indian film and television actress and model. She debuted in 2013 with the television series ''Mahabharat''. In 2018, she made her Hindi film debut with ''Bhaagte Raho''. Career She was a theatre artist before she entering i ...

, released in April 2021. MnM talkies produced ''Virus 2062'', a Spotify India's audio thriller voiced by

Ali Fazal Ali Fazal (born 15 October 1986) is an Indian actor and model who primarily appears in Hindi films. He made his screen debut with a small role in the English language film '' The Other End of the Line'' before appearing in the American televisio ...

and

Richa Chadha Richa Chadda (born 18 December 1986) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. After debuting in a small role in the comedy film '' Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!'' (2008), Chadda's breakthrough came in 2012 with a supporting role in the noir gan ...

. It was directed by Mantra, which was released in September 2021.

Production and directions

Mantra has directed and produced various films and shorts films under the banner of his production company Mantramugdh Productions. In 2017, his short film, ''Khatara'', which portrayes the story of a simple small-town boy and his love for his car, won the Best Actor's Award at the 4th

Bengaluru International Short Film Festival Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF) is an annual short film festival held in Bengaluru, India. Held first in 2010, it previews and showcases selected short films, in categories such as International, Indian, Karnataka, Animati ...

. ''Khatara'' was produced by Mantramugdh Productions in association with PitaraStudios and Purple Production. ''Saudade'', another short film produced by Mantra, won the Best Cinematography award at the 4th

and was also selected in the Goa Short Film Festival and

in 2019. In 2016, Mantra produced and directed the short film, ''Deja Brew'', featuring his mother. It was screened at the Filmingo International Short Film Festival, 5th Mumbai Short International Film Festival and 5th Delhi Short International Film Festival and Cineframe International Short Film Festival, Kolkata. He made his debut in Bengali cinema with his first

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

film ''ANA'' which is based on transgender, was released on OTT platform

. Ana was nominated for the award of 'Best actor in a leading role' at the Moscow Indie Film Festival.

Filmography

Feature films

Web-series

Television

Dubbing roles

Live action films

Awards and recognition

Mantra is a two-time winner of the

Promax Award The Promax Awards (also known as the PromaxBDA Awards) honor promotion, design, and marketing by a company or individual that is broadcast, published, or released in their respective markets. Promax International/BPME (branded as "Promax") sponsor ...

for his show ''Mumbai Local'' on Red FM 93.5. He was awarded the RAPA Award for Best Radio Jockey twice. In June 2011,

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, ...

awarded him the "Hero to Animals" award for rescuing a parrot tangled in wires. Mantra has also won the Best Actor award at the Bangalore Short Film Festival 2015 for his short film ''Khatara'' and at the 6th Indian Cine Film Festival 2018 for ''Ana''. He was awarded the Best Radio Personality for 92.7 Big FM show, ''Lamhe with Mantra'' at The New York Festival Awards 2017.

References

External links

* *
I couldn’t be another Bharti -RJ Mantra
at ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mantra Indian male television actors Living people Indian film actors Indian television presenters Masters of ceremonies Indian stand-up comedians Participants in Indian reality television series 1982 births