Omkar Das Manikpuri is an Indian stage and film actor. He is a member of folk-theatre doyen

Habib Tanvir Habib Tanvir (1 September 1923 – 8 June 2009) was one of the most popular Indian Urdu playwrights, a theatre director, poet and actor. He was the writer of plays such as, ''Agra Bazar'' (1954) and '' Charandas Chor'' (1975). A pioneer i ...

's, Naya Theatre company. Manikpuri made his

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

film debut as a lead in ''

Peepli Live ''Peepli Live'' is a 2010 Indian satirical black comedy film that explores the topic of farmer suicides and the subsequent media and political response. It is written and directed by Anusha Rizvi in her directorial debut, and produced by Aami ...

'' in 2010. Charandas Chor

Early life

Manikpuri was born in Bhilai,

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

where he attended school until fifth grade when the death of his father forced him to join a village folk-theatre troupe, Mandali. He shifted to Brindanagar (Ward No. 20) in

Bhilai Bhilai is a city in Durg district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, in eastern central India. Along with its twin-city Durg, the urban agglomeration of Durg-Bhilai Nagar has a population of more than a million, making it the second-larges ...

in 1981.

Career

Manikpuri started his career at the age of 17, as a performer in the local form of folk theatre called ''Nacha'' and joined an itinerant village theatre group. Performing often in makeshift and open air stages, he performed as a singer, dancer, mimic and a stand-up comic. Later he joined Naya Theatre which was founded by

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

. With the Naya Theatre he has performed, in India and abroad, classics such as ''Agra Bazaar'', ''

Charandas Chor Charandas Chor (''Charandas the Thief'') is a 1975 children's film by noted director Shyam Benegal, based on the famous play by Habib Tanvir, which itself was an adaptation of a classical Rajasthani folktale by Vijaydan Detha. The lyrics of ...

'', ''Kamdev ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna'' and ''

Sadak ''Sadak'' (; ) is a 1991 Indian Hindi-language romantic action thriller film directed by Mahesh Bhatt. It stars Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt. The film is one of the highest-grossing movies of the year 1991. It is an unofficial remake of 1976 ...

''. It was during a performance of the popular play ''Charandas Chor'' in Bhopal, that he was noticed by

Anusha Rizvi Anusha Rizvi (born 13 March 1978) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. Formerly a journalist, Anusha's directorial debut, '' Peepli Live'', premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2010 in the World Competition Section. It was the first I ...

and

Mahmood Farooqui Mahmood Farooqui is an Indian writer, performer and director. He specializes in a type of story-telling known as '' Dastangoi''. Farooqui along with his uncle Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, noted Urdu poet and literary critic, revived Dastangoi, the an ...

, the co-directors of the film, which led to him auditioning for the film in Bhopal. In 2010, Manikpuri made his film debut in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

with

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and television personality who works in Bollywood, Hindi films. Referred to as "Mr. Perfectionist" in the media, he is known for his work in a variety of film g ...

productions' ''

'', in which he played the lead. Initially he had auditioned for the minor role of Machua, but later was given the lead of Natha, which was till then reportedly to be played by Aamir Khan. In 2014, he performed in '' Ebn-E-Batuta'', directed by Varun Middha. Beginning in 2015, he played Jagannath in the television series '' Santoshi Maa''. In 2017, he performed in the

Rajasthani language The Rajasthani languages are a group of Western Indo-Aryan languages, primarily spoken in Rajasthan and Malwa, and adjacent areas of Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in India and South Punjab and the adjacent areas of Sindh in Pakistan. T ...

film Taawdo The Sunlight, he also acted in bollywood film

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

. In 2019, he acted in the Malayalam film ''

Unda Unda or UNDA may refer to: * Unda (genus), a genus of Amoebozoa * Unda (plural "undae"), a term for an extraterrestrial dune field * Unda (organization), the International Catholic Association for Radio and Television which was merged with OCIC t ...

'' alongside

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

.Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl (June 14, 2019)
"Unda movie review: This Mammootty-starrer is a police story with a difference"
''The Week''. Retrieved July 25, 2019. In 2023 released Red Chillies Entertainments' ( Atlee directorial and

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

starrer) Jawan, Manikpuri played Leher Khan's father, a Dalit farmer and a loving father who is unable to repay a loan and ultimately hangs himself to aid his daughter's education through the suicide-compensation amount provided by the government, similar to his character from ''Peepli Live''.

Personal life

Manikpuri's seven-member family lives in Bhilai's Brindanagar area (Ward no. 20).

Filmography

References

Omkar Das Manikpuri
at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

External links

*
Interview – Omkar Das Manikpuri (Natha)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manikpuri, Omkar Das 20th-century Indian male actors Indian male stage actors Male actors in Hindi cinema 1970 births Living people Folk artists from India People from Bhilai Male actors from Chhattisgarh 21st-century Indian male actors