Brajanath Sarma (15 September 1894 – 1960) was a playwright, actor and a pioneer of mobile

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Early life

Brajanath Sarma, also called Natyacharjya (''a guru of dramatics'') was born in the village Sila in the Bajali area of modern Barpeta district of

. His father was Padmanath Sarma and mother was Nareswari Devi. After clearing his entrance examination he enrolled for higher studies in the Tarinipriya Chatuspathy of Gouripur,

. But he left the studies and came back home. He joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and fought battles in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

and in other places in overseas in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

During the period he met an Englishman named George and became interested in

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

. While being posted in Basorah, he was an active member of the West Bengali Democratic Club and played roles in various Bengali Dramas from 1917 to 1921. In 1921, he returned home and forms a 'jatra party' (drama group) in his village bearing the name - 'Sila Kalika Opera Party' with association of his brothers Krishnakanta and Uday Sarma. The drama group was dismantled in 1924 and he formed a new group called 'Sarbhog Dakhin Ganakgari Party' where he directed various plays Dhatri panna, Basapati, Shanti, Kalaphad, Ranjit Singh etc. He trained many young actors like Chandra Choudhury of Barpeta and Phani Sarma of Tezpur. Five years later, in 1930, he formed his historic Kohinoor Opera party. He was the pioneer of co-acting in the Assamese theater. His was also the first party to tour and perform dramas in various places like 'Bengali Jatra' in Assam. The same movement later translated into the now famous 'Mobile Theaters of Assam'. In 1936, he discontinued Kohinoor Opera Party and joined the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. He was the Vice-President of Barnagar Congress Committee. During the period of

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

, he and his associates alienated themselves from the non-violence movement and was the architect of destruction of the Barnagar Aerodrome and

Sarbhog Sarbhog (also spelt as Sorbhog) is a town and a town area committee in Barpeta district in the Indian state of Assam. It is located on the banks of river Beki and is known for the century-old temple of lord Krishna known as "Gorokhiya Gohainr ...

police station. For the same, he was jailed for three years in 1943. After that jailed period he went into business. Brajanath Sarma

Following the independence of India, he joined Socialist Party and severed his ties with Congress. He contested election from the Socialist party in 1952 and lost. In the later years of his life, he came back to dramas.

Death

He died of respiratory disease in

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

in 1960.

Works

Plays

*Dhatri Panna *Basaspati *Shanti *Kalapahad *Ranjit Singh *Barjita *Manomati *Patita *Karuna *Urbashi

Autobiographical

*Biplobi

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarma, Brajanath Indian male dramatists and playwrights Dramatists and playwrights from Assam 1960 deaths 1894 births Assam dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers