Usha Ganguly
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Usha Ganguli (1945 – 23 April 2020) was an Indian theatre director-actor and activist, most known for her work in
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 ...
theatre in
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 ...
in the 1970s and 1980s. She founded '' Rangakarmee'' theatre group in 1976, known for its productions like ''Mahabhoj'', ''Rudali'', ''Court Martial'', and ''Antaryatra''. Apart from thespian
Shyamanand Jalan Shyamanand Jalan (13 January 1934 – 24 May 2010) was a Kolkata-based Indian theatre director, and actor. He is credited for the renaissance period of modern Indian theatre and especially the Hindi theatre in Kolkata from the 1960s to 1980s. H ...
of '' Padatik'' (established 1972), she was the only other theatre director to practise
Hindi theatre Hindi theatre is theatre performed in the Hindi language, including dialects such as Braj Bhasha, Khari Boli and Hindustani. Hindi theatre is produced mainly in North India, and some parts of West India and Central India, which include Mumbai a ...
in Kolkata, which is largely
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 w ...
speaking. She was awarded the
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...
for Direction, given by 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) ...
, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama in 1998. She was also honoured by the
West Bengal Government The Government of West Bengal, also known as the West Bengal Government, is the principal administrative authority of the Indian state of West Bengal, created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial a ...
as the best actress for the play ''Gudia Ghar''.


Early life and education

Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, into a family from the village of Nerva in
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
, Usha Ganguly learnt
Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...
dance and later moved to Kolkata, where she studied at Shri Shikshayatan College, Kolkata and did her master's degree in
Hindi literature Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...
.


Career

Ganguly began her career as a teacher at Bhowanipur Education Society College, Calcutta, an undergraduate college affiliated with 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 1970. Also in the same year, she started acting with ''Sangit Kala Mandir'' and also started work for her first play ''Mitti Ki Gadi'' (based on '' Mrichchakatikam'' by Shudrak) (1970), where she played the role of Vasantsena. She continued teaching as a Hindi Lecturer at Bhowanipur Education Society College, until her retirement in 2008 and practised theatre all the while. She formed a theatre group, ''Rangakarmee'', in January 1976. Initially, since she was trained as a dancer, the group invited outside directors, like M.K. Raina, who directed ''Mother'', Tripti Mitra directed ''Gudia Ghar'', an adaptation of
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 ''
A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...
'', besides Rudra Prasad Sengupta and Bibhash Chakravorty, before she started directing herself, having trained under Tripti Mitra and Mrinal Sen. Ganguly started directing in the 1980s and soon her energetic style and disciplined ensemble work with young, large casts brought a resurgence of Hindi theatre in the city. Her important productions included ''Mahabhoj'' (Great Feast) in 1984, based on
Mannu Bhandari Mannu Bhandari (3 April 1931 – 15 November 2021) was an Indian author, screenplay writer, teacher, and playwright. Primarily known for her two Hindi novels, ''Aap Ka Bunty'' (''Your Bunty'') and ''Mahabhoj'' (''Feast''), Bhandari also wrote ...
novel, Ratnakar Matkari's ''Lokkatha'' (Folktale) in 1987, ''Holi'' by playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar in 1989, and ''Rudali'' (1992), her own dramatised version of a story by
Mahashweta Devi Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016)
'' 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 ...
's ''
Mother Courage Mother Courage (German ''Mutter Courage'') is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel ''Lebensbeschreibung der Ertzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche'' (''The Runagate Courage'') dating from around 1670. The character had played a cameo r ...
'' and notably ''Court Martial'' written by playwright
Swadesh Deepak Swadesh Deepak (born 1943) is an Indian playwright, novelist and short-story writer. Deepak has been active on the Hindi literary scene since the mid-1960s and is best known for ''Court Martial,'' a 1991 play. Deepak's most recent book is ''Main ...
. She wrote a play ''Kashinama'' (2003), based on a story, ''Kaane Kaun Kumati Lagi'' from the Kashinath Singh's classic work, ''Kashi Ka Assi'' and an original play ''Khoj''. She also worked on the script of ''
Raincoat A raincoat is a waterproof or water-resistant garment worn on the upper body to shield the wearer from rain. The term rain jacket is sometimes used to refer to raincoats with long sleeves that are waist-length. A rain jacket may be combined wit ...
'' (2004) a Hindi film based on O Henry's ''
The Gift of the Magi "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by American writer O. Henry, first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little mone ...
'', directed by
Rituparno Ghosh Rituparno Ghosh (; 31 August 1963 – 30 May 2013) was an Indian film director, actor, writer and lyricist. After pursuing a degree in economics, he started his career as a creative artist at an advertising agency. He received recognition for h ...
. In the coming years, she also translated and adapted plays into Hindi. Rangakarmee started its education wing in the 1990s, today it regularly takes its repertoire on tours across India and undertakes education extension activities in theatre with underprivileged people. In 2005, Rangkarmee was the only Indian theatre group to perform at the Theatre der Welt Festival in
Stuttgart, Germany Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. It staged the play ''Rudali'' at "Punj Pani festival" at
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
in 2006. The group staged its first multilingual production, ''Bhor'' about the minds of inmates of a drug rehab centre in August 2010.


Plays

* ''Mahabhoj'' (The Great Feast) (1984) * ''Lok Katha'' (Folk Tale) (1987) * ''Holi'' (1989) * ''Court Martial'' (1991) * ''Rudali'' (The Mourner) (1992) * ''Himmat Mai'' (
Mother Courage Mother Courage (German ''Mutter Courage'') is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel ''Lebensbeschreibung der Ertzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche'' (''The Runagate Courage'') dating from around 1670. The character had played a cameo r ...
) (1998) * ''Mukti'' (1999) * ''Shobhayatra'' (2000) * ''Kashinama'' (2003) * ''Chandalika'' * ''Sarhad Par Manto'' * ''Manasi'' (in Bengali) (2011) *


Works

* ''Rudali'' (play based on Mahashweta Devi's story), Radhakrishna Prakashan, 2004. .


Works

* ''antarmahal'',


Further reading

* ''Rudali: from fiction to performance'', by Mahashweta Devi, Usha Ganguli, Anjum Katyal. Seagull Books, 1997. .


References

*


External links


Rangkarmee, website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganguly, Usha Indian theatre directors Indian stage actresses Actresses from Rajasthan 1945 births 2020 deaths Actresses from Kolkata Indian women activists Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Hindi theatre Shri Shikshayatan College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Indian women theatre directors 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses People from Jodhpur