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. He remained associated with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) for a few years before founding the ''Bohurupee'' theatre group in Kolkata in 1948. He is most noted for films like '' Dharti Ke Lal'' (1946), '' Jagte Raho'' (1956), and his production of ''Rakta Karabi'' based on Rabindranath Tagore's play in 1954 and ''Chand Baniker Pala'', his most noted play as a playwright. In 1966, the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

awarded him its highest award, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime contribution, then in 1970, he was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, India's third highest civilian honour, and in 1976 the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, ...

Early life and education

Born in

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

(now

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

), India, on 22 August 1915, Sombhu Mitra was the sixth child of three sons and four daughters born of Sarat Kumar Mitra, an employee of the Geological Survey of India, and Satadalbasini Mitra. His mother died when he was 12 years old.Biography of Sombhu Mitra
The 1976

website. He started his schooling in Chakraberia Middle English School, Calcutta and later continued in the Ballygunge Government High School, Calcutta, where he developed interest reading Bengali plays and became active in school dramatics. He joined St. Xavier's College of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

in 1931, and soon started attending the local theatre.

Career

His first appearance in Bengali theatre was in Rangmahal Theatre in north Kolkata in 1939, thereafter he moved to the Minerva, Natyaniketan and Srirangam theatres. In 1943, he joined Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). In 1944, several old theatrical conventions were broken when the play ''Nabanna'' written by Bijon Bhattacharya and co-directed by Sombhu Mitra for IPTA was staged. In 1948, Sombhu Mitra formed a new theatre group, Bohurupee in Kolkata, which ushered in the group-theatre movement in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. He married Tripti Mitra née Bhaduri, who was also a celebrated personality in the Bengali theatre. Their daughter, Shaoli was a noted actress, director and playwright.

The Bohurupee productions

Under Sombhu Mitra's direction, the Bohurupee staged several successful productions. In December 1950, the Bohurupee presented three plays in the New Empire theatre – Tulsi Lahiri's '' Pathik'' and '' Chenda Tar'' and Sombhu Mitra's own creation, '' Ulukhagra''. In 1954,

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

's '' Rakta Karabi'' was staged by the Bohurupee, followed by his '' Bisarjan'', ''

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

'' and '' Char Adhyay''. Other notable productions include Bidhyak Bhattacharya's '' Tahar Namti Ranjana'' and '' Kanchanranga''. Under his direction, this group also presented the Bengali adaptations of several well-known dramas from the world stage.

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's ''Putul Khela'' (Doll's House), ''Dashachakra'' (An Enemy of the People) and Sophocles' ''Raja Oidipaus'' (Oedipus Rex) are notable amongst them. He has also acted in The Life of Galileo by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

directed by Fritz Bennewitz in the title role. In these productions he performed as ''Rahimuddin'' in ''Chenda Tar'', ''Atin'' in ''Char Adhyay'', ''Binod'' in ''Ulukhagra'', ''Tapan'' in ''Putul Khela'', ''Dr. Purnendu Guha'' in ''Dashachakra'', ''Oidipaus'' in ''Raja Oidipaus''. He died in Kolkata.

Filmography

Sombhu Mitra performed in several movies in Bengali and Hindi. The notable among them are: * '' Dharti Ke Lal'' (1946) (Hindi) * ''Abhiyatri'' (1947) (Bengali) * ''Dhatri Debata'' (1948) (Bengali) * ''Abarta'' (1949) (Bengali) * 42'' (1949) (Bengali) * ''Hindustan Hamara'' (1950) (Hindi) * ''Pathik'' (1953) (Bengali) * '' Bou Thakuranir Haat'' (1953) (Bengali) * ''Maharaj Nandakumar'' (1953) (Bengali) * ''Maraner Pare'' (1954) (Bengali) * ''Shivashakti'' (1954) (Bengali) * ''Durlabh Janma'' (1955) (Bengali) * Manik (1961) (Bengali) * ''Suryasnan'' (1962) (Bengali) * ''Panna'' (1967) (Bengali) * ''Natun Pata'' (1969) (Bengali) * ''Nishachar'' (1971) (Bengali) He wrote the story and screenplay of '' Jagte Raho'' (1956) and also co-directed it along with Amit Maitra. He also directed a Bengali movie, ''Shubha Bibaha'' in 1959.

Major works

* ''Abhinay Natak Mancha'' (in Bengali) (1957) * ''Sanmarga-Saparya'' (in Bengali) * ''Natak Raktakarabi'' (in Bengali) * ''Chandbaniker Pala'' (in Bengali)

Honours and awards

Sombhu Mitra received many national and international awards, which include the Crystal Globe for '' Jagte Raho'' at the 1957

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

, the ''Desikottama'' from Visva Bharati University in 1989, an honorary D. Litt. from both Rabindra Bharati University and Jadavpur University in Kolkata, the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1976 for journalism, literature and creative communication arts and the Padmabhushan in the same year. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1966. For his contribution in the movies, he won the Grand-Prix Award at the

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Government honoured him with '' Kalidas Samman'' (1982–83).A thespian who touched dizzy heights

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...

, 20 May 1997 ;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

– Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Bengali – ''Ek Din Ratre''

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Sombhu 1915 births 1997 deaths Hindi-language film directors Indian male film actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors in Bengali cinema Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian theatre directors Film directors from Kolkata St. Xavier's College, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Ramon Magsaysay Award winners Bengali theatre personalities 20th-century Indian male actors 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Male actors from Kolkata Screenwriters from Kolkata Bengali screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian screenwriters Dramatists and playwrights from West Bengal Recipients of Kalidas Samman