Kangabam Tomba (born 10 June 1946) is an Indian actor from

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the f ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

. He started his career in theatre. His first appearance in movies is in ''

Matamgi Manipur ''Matamgi Manipur'' ( mni, ꯃꯇꯝꯒꯤ ꯃꯅꯤꯄꯨꯔ; English: ''The Times of Manipur'') is the first full-length Manipuri feature film released in the year 1972. The movie is directed by Debkumar Bose and produced by Karam Monomohan, ...

'', the first Manipuri full-length feature film where he played a college guy. His is popularly known as ''Lamja Tomba'' for his titular role in the 1974 movie ''

Lamja Parshuram ''Lamja Parshuram'' is a 1974 Indian Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also ...

''. ''Tomba'' bagged the Best Actor Award at the 1st Manipur State Film Festival 1984 for the film. He was conferred with the ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' at the 11th Manipur State Film Awards 2018. ''Tomba'' was awarded the Neta Irawat Leelaroi Lifetime Mana (Manipuri Cinema) at the 1st MANIFA 2012 organised by Sahitya Seva Samiti, Kakching.

Early life and education

Kangabam Tomba is the youngest among his five siblings. He studied till VI standard in Kwakeithel Boys' School, Imphal. He completed his high school from Ram Lal Paul High School. He did his further studies from Imphal College.

Career

He first received the knowledge of theatre from his Manipuri teacher of Imphal College G.C. Tongbra, who was also a noted playwright. ''Tomba'' joined Society Theatre in 1967. Some of the famous plays where he had acted include ''Ani Thokna Chingkhaire'', ''Julius Caesar'', ''Hamlet'', ''Mani Mamou'' and ''Ngabongkhao''. ''Julius Caesar'' and ''Hamlet'' are Manipuri plays translated from their original versions of William Shakespeare by G.C. Tongbra. He appeared as a college guy in ''

'', the first Manipuri feature film in 1972. His first movie as a leading actor is ''

'' released in 1974, where he played the titular role. The movie became a hit and since then, he is popularly known as ''Lamja Tomba''. His 1979 movie '' Olangthagee Wangmadasoo'' ran for 32 weeks, the longest Manipuri movie to run in theatres till date and broke the local box office records of ''

Sholay ''Sholay'' (, ) is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan) ...

''. In '' Paokhum Ama'', he played a government employee from

who is posted to a hill district of

. He was the leading male protagonist in 1990

Aribam Syam Sharma Aribam Syam Sharma is an Indian filmmaker and composer from Manipur. He debuted in the first Manipuri film '' Matamgi Manipur'' as an actor. In 1974, he directed his first movie '' Lamja Parshuram''. It became the first Manipuri film to run for 1 ...

's movie ''

Ishanou ''Ishanou'' (English: ''The Chosen One'') is a 1990 Manipuri film written by M. K. Binodini Devi and directed by Aribam Syam Sharma. The movie stars Anoubam Kiranmala and Kangabam Tomba in the lead roles. It was screened in the Un Certain Regar ...

'', which was critically acclaimed worldwide and participated in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 1991. He has also acted in digital films like ''

Ashangba Nongjabi ''Ashangba Nongjabi'' (English: ''Crimson Rainclouds'') is a 2003 Indian Meitei language film written by M. K. Binodini Devi. It is produced and directed by Aribam Syam Sharma. Bhogen, Lingjelthoibi and Ningthoujam Rina played lead roles in th ...

'', ''Nangtana Helli'', ''Amamba Lambee'' and ''

Nongphadok Lakpa Atithi ''Nongphadok Lakpa Atithi'' (English: ''The Guest'') is a 2019 Indian Meitei language film directed by Aribam Syam Sharma and produced by Deepak Sarmah. It stars Ningthoujam Rina and Lairenjam Olen in the lead roles. The film was premiered at ...

''. ''Tomba'' is an approved radio artist of

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

. Some of the well known radio plays where he was a part are ''Ashangba Nongjabi'' and ''Nongphadok Lakpada''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomba, Kangabam 20th-century Indian male actors Living people People from Imphal Indian male film actors Meitei people 1946 births Male actors from Manipur