On 25th May 2026, President of India bestowed the prestigious Padmasree Award for the year 2026 to my father, Late Hari Madhab Mukhopadhyay for his body of work in the realm of Bengali theatre. He was a prolific actor, director and writer.
My father must have been smiling from above when me, my elder sister, Smt. Madhushri Mukhopadhyay & my younger brother, Shri Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay were present at the prestigious Ganatantra Mandapam inside Rashtrapati Bhavan when the Padma Shree Award was conferred to him posthumously by the President of India, Smt. Draupadi Murmu in the presence of Honorable Prime Minister and other dignitaries.
We will never forget that special moment of pride, happiness along with melancholy of missing him. The greatness of that Award and the vast expanse of the occasion reminded us once again the enormity of our father’s work in Bengali theatre and his presence in our life.
Everything was there. Only he was not there.
My father’s penchant for theatre started from very early age when he grew up among his friends and relatives in the small quiet town of Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur. Back in 1956, he, along with his friends, started a new theatre group named ‘Tarun Tirtha’. In 1958, he came to Kolkata for studying and then stayed on till 1967 with a job. During this tenure, he came in touch with various theatre groups, primarily in Howrah, and at Kolkata. He came in touch with many stalwarts of Kolkata theatre scene at that time.
In 1968, he came back to Balurghat with a lecturer’s job at Balurghat College and in 1969, established the group ‘Tritirtha’ after merging two other groups with his, and started building a theatre hall with the help of well wishers of different strata of society, from rickshaw puller to School principal to wealthy businessmen. They were all attracted by his acting skills and the indomitable spirit of making plays outside of Kolkata and make them equally famous and popular. It takes lot of grit to keep a theatre group running outside Kolkata – the cradle of Bengali theatre, and he kept it with his writing, acting, direction and the towering personality to take everyone along with him. Tritirtha remained the most prominent theatre group north of Kolkata for many long years.
He wrote his first paly ‘Tabuo Surya Othe’ at the age of 18 in 1959. In 1960, he wrote ‘Hyper bol’ based on a short story by Anton Chekhov and ‘Dash Putul’ based on a novel by Dame Agatha Christie.
His most famous plays are ‘Teen Bigyani’, ‘Debangshi’, ‘Jol’, ‘Monjori Amer Monjori’, ‘Debangshi’, ‘Devi Gorjon’, ‘Aniket’, ‘Bondi Samrat’, ‘Rakto Karabi’, ‘Agni Suddhi’, ‘Byapika Biday’ and many more. The list is long. His plays bore a distinct mark of local language and customs which attracted both viewers and actors. Many TV actors of today have started their journey under him. He directed Maheswata Devi’s ‘Bichan’ in Hindi which intrigued her to see the play and visit our home at Balurghat. Every play bore his unique style of presentation and acting. He gave special emphasis on lighting and music. All music in his plays were composed by him. In all, he wrote 47 plays which were published by Punashcha Publishing House.
In 1970, he received Best Actor Award in All India Theatre Competition. In 1976, he won Dishari Award from Government of West Bengal as Best Director for the play, ‘Devi Gorjon’. In 1987, he received Best Actor Award from Government of West Bengal for the play, ‘Bichon’. In 1997, he received Kanchenjunga Award. In 2007, he received Sangeet Natya Academy Award from the President of India. He received Dinabandhu Award from Government of West Bengal in 2007. He also received Banga Bhushan Award in 2012 from Government of West Bengal. Other than these, he received multiple awards and citations from several universities and organizations.
During his illustrious busy life, he had been instrumental in developing plays with different groups from all over Bengal to Ranchi in Jharkhand. He also acted in plays by Manoj Mitra and directed and acted in ‘Aurangjeb’ by Rangopot group in Kolkata.
Here I must acknowledge my mother, Rina Mukherjee, who had always been a strong pillar of support for him by taking care of our extended family. She had been a constant source of inspiration for my father.
My father breathed and dreamt of theatre. His daily life mainly revolved around books and theatre. And still he always found time to speak and teach us. His presence was towering over us. We never took any step in our life without his concurrence. He loved us and was always there when we needed him. He had been instrumental in shaping our studies, cultural lenience and most importantly ethics.
THANK YOU, BABA, FOR EVERYTHING!
Honoured at Rashtrapati Bhavan by #DraupadiMurmupresident President of India in the presence of Hon'ble PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
#PadmaShree #BengaliTheatre #GrandCastleParivar #ProudMoment #TritirthaTheatre #PadmaAwards
13 views
