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

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 fourt ...

at his maternal uncle's house. His native village was

Kenda Kenda is a census town in the Jamuria CD block in the Asansol Sadar subdivision in the Paschim Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geography Location Kenda is located at . It has an average elevation of . The Asansol reg ...

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 Maharaja Manindra Chandra College is an undergraduate college in North Kolkata, India, established in 1941, at 20 Ramkanta Bose Street, Kolkata - 700003. It is affiliated under the University of Calcutta. It shares premises with Maharaja Sris ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, 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 Nandikar ( bn, নান্দীকার) is a theatre group in India. The group has its headquarters in Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, but works around the world. History Nandikar's story begins on 29 June 1960 at maternal uncle's house ...

'' group in 1960.

Theatre

Prior to joining ''

'', 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 ''

'', Ajitesh along with

Rudraprasad Sengupta Rudraprasad Sengupta (born 31 January 1935) is a Bengali Indian actor, director and cultural critic. Biography Sengupta was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal, the son of Anant Sengupta and Usha Prabha Sengupta. He studied at the Scottish ...

Asit Bandopadhyay Asit Bandopadhyay (or Banerjee) (1936 – 17 September 2020) was a Bengali dramatist, screenwriter and actor. He was associated with the Nandikar theater group. He lived and worked in Kolkata, India. He was a playwright, screenwriter, director ...

and Keya Chakrabarty, staged and performed many successful plays - mostly adaptations of ''

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old 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 ...

'', ''

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 co ...

'', ''

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 as the "most powerful performer of the Bengal theatre in current times". In 1977, he left

and formed his own theatrical group ''

Nandimukh Village Anarpur is a drama group based in Zila Shilpakala Academy in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The group stages creative and contemporary drama productions, currently led by playwright Abhijit Sen Gupta. As a theatre troupe, they organize internati ...

'' 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 ''Chhuti'' ( English: ''A Vacation'') is a 1967 Bengali film, based on a novel by Bimal Kar. It marked the directorial debut of Arundhati Devi, who also wrote the screenplay and composed the music for the film. At the 14th National Film Awards, ...

'', '' Atithi'', ''

Kuheli ''Kuheli'' (''Bengali'': কুহেলী) is a 1971 Bengali suspense thriller movie directed by Tarun Majumdar. The film stars Biswajit Chatterjee, Chhaya Devi, Sumita Sanyal Ajitesh Bandopadhyay, Satya Bandyopadhyay, Shekhar Chatterjee ...

'' followed by ''Ganadevata'', ''Aaj Kaal Porshur Galpo'', ''

Megh o Roudra ''Megh o Roudra'' (English: Clouds and Sunshine) is a Bengali drama film directed by Arundhati Devi and produced by Ajitesh Bandopadhyay based on Rabindranath Tagore's short story by the same name. This film was released in 1969 under the banner ...

'', ''

Thagini ''Thagini'' (The Lady Thug) is a Bengali suspense drama film directed by Tarun Majumdar based on a short story of Subodh Ghosh. This film was released on 13 December 1974 in the banner of ''Chaya O Chabi'' Production. Music of the film was scor ...

'', ''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 married ...

'', ''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 both ...

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