Manoj Mitra: A playwright who used laughter as a weapon to focus on bitter issues

Manoj Mitra has also acted in over 80 films including some of Satyajit Ray's classics.

Kolkata: Bengali theatre personality Manoj Mitra, who died on Tuesday at the age of 86 in Kolkata, was known mainly for writing and directing farces and fantasies to highlight social and political issues.

His plays also underscored the struggle of the oppressed common man.

A legendary actor, he immortalised the character of Banchharam in Tapan Sinha's 1980 film Banchharamer Bagan (The Garden of Banchharam). This dark comedy on the oppression of the peasants by the zamindars was adapted from a play by Mitra.

Mitra had around 100 one-act and full-length plays to his credit besides film scripts.

His major full-length plays include Narak Guljar (The Great Hell), Aswathama, Chakbhanga Madhu (Honey from Broken Hive), Mesh O Rakhash (The Lamb and the Monster), Galpo Hekim Saheb (Tale of a Hekim), Rajdarshan (Visiting the King), Alokanandar Putra Kanya (Alokananda's Son and Daughter), Sajano Bagan (Decorated Garden), Chhayar Prashad (The Palace of Shadows) and Jene Shune Bish (Poison, Knowingly).

Partition of the country, Naxalite movement of Bengal, tyranny of the ruling class, religious fundamentalism and other major issues were highlighted in Mitra's plays.

Among his key one-act plays are Mrityur Chokhe Jal (Tears in the Eyes of Death), Chokhe Angul Dada (The Fault Finder), Ami Madan Bolchhi (Hello I am Madan), Takshak and others.

According to academician and translator Mousumi Roy Chowdhury, in Mitra’s plays, conscience has a major role.

"Not strictly restricted to an instrumental moral sense, conscience here is used in the larger sense of consciousness that reaches beyond the closures and binaries of the regulating norms of the political theatre," Roy Chowdhury said in an anthology of plays translated by her.

He also acted in more than 80 films including Satyajit Ray's classics Ghare Baire (Home and the World, 1984) and Ganashatru (An Enemy of the People, 1989). Mitra also worked on projects of Tapan Sinha - Adalat O Ekti Meye (The Court and a Woman, 1982) and Wheel Chair (1995).

After the 1984 superhit potboiler 'Shatru' (Enemy) in which he essayed the role of a notorious leader, Mitra got a chance to act in Bollywood films. He, however, rejected that proposal apprehending that it would impact his involvement in theatre.

Mitra was born December 22, 1938, in a village in Khulna district of undivided Bengal. His father was a government officer.

Interestingly, though plays were enacted at his family home during the festive days of Durga puja, children were not allowed to watch them. Backdrops, props, costumes and other articles associated with the staging of plays stored at home kindled his passion for plays.

Mitra permanently came to India from East Pakistan at the age of 12. He cleared his MA in Philosophy in 1960.

During the college and university days, he wrote short stories and plays. However, after his play Mrityur Chokhe Jal earned him first prize at a statewide competition, he focused only on this field. His acting prowess mesmerised veteran actors of that time as the 21-year-old youth effortlessly metamorphosed into an elderly man in Mrityur Chokhe Jal.

Also in the film Banchharamer Bagan, adapted from his play Sajano Bagan (1977), he essayed the role of the 90-year-old protagonist when Mitra was in his 40s. He bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the movie.

The playwright was conferred with the Sangeet Natak Award (1985) and the Asiatic Society Award (2005) for his overall contribution to theatre, among numerous other awards.

Mitra also headed the theatre group Sundaram for many years. He was a professor of philosophy in a college in West Bengal.