Sombhu Mitra (1915 to 1997) was a Bengali actor, director and playwright who co-founded the theatre group Bohurupee in Kolkata in 1948. He is remembered for staging Rabindranath Tagore’s Raktakarabi, for his adaptation of Sophocles as Raja Oedipous, and for helping launch India’s group theatre movement.
Key takeaways
- Sombhu Mitra co-founded Bohurupee, the group widely credited with starting the group theatre movement in West Bengal.
- He began on the IPTA stage, then broke away in 1948 because he would not let art serve political doctrine.
- His stylised stagings of Tagore, above all Raktakarabi, set a new standard for serious Indian theatre.
- He won a Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1966), the Padma Bhushan (1970) and the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1976).
Who was Sombhu Mitra?
Sombhu Mitra was born in Calcutta in 1915 and became one of the defining figures of twentieth century Indian theatre. He entered the professional Bengali stage as an actor in 1939 and quickly earned a name, but he grew restless with the stock melodramas of the commercial theatre. During the 1940s he worked with the Indian People’s Theatre Association, the cultural wing of the left, and he made his film debut in the IPTA production Dharti Ke Lal in 1946. His search for a theatre of ideas, not formula, would soon take him in his own direction.
What was Bohurupee and why did it matter?
In 1948 Sombhu Mitra and a small circle of artists, among them his wife Tripti Mitra and the playwright Bijon Bhattacharya, founded Bohurupee in Kolkata. (Britannica dates the founding to 1949; most sources say 1948.) It began as a non-commercial troupe of about fifteen people for whom theatre was a dedication rather than a living. That choice mattered. By refusing both the sentimental commercial stage and art dictated by party politics, Bohurupee opened a third path and is widely credited with starting the group theatre movement in Bengal. The early years were hard, and the group was attacked from both the right and the left, but its disciplined, idea-driven work changed what Indian audiences expected from a play.
Which productions made Sombhu Mitra famous?
Bohurupee’s reputation rests on a run of landmark stagings. The group dramatised Tagore’s novel as Char Adhyay in 1951, then reached a high point in 1954 with Raktakarabi, known in English as Red Oleanders, with Tripti Mitra as Nandini. Mitra also turned to world drama, adapting Henrik Ibsen as Putulkhela (A Doll’s House) and Dashachakra (An Enemy of the People), and directing his own Raja Oedipous, the Bengali Oedipus Rex, in 1964. Beyond the stage he acted in and co-directed the Hindi film Jagte Raho in 1956. Together these works showed that Indian theatre could be both rooted in Tagore and open to Sophocles and Ibsen.
How did Sombhu Mitra change modern Indian theatre?
Mitra treated directing as a serious craft, with careful design, rhythm and ensemble discipline, at the same time that Ebrahim Alkazi was raising those standards in Delhi. His Bengal became a nursery for the voices who followed, from the political stage of Utpal Dutt to the experimental Third Theatre of Badal Sarkar. Where he differed from the agitprop tradition was in his insistence that a production answer first to its own artistic truth. That principle, more than any single play, is his lasting mark on the Indian stage. Decades on, directors across the country still trace a line back to the quiet discipline he brought to a Bohurupee rehearsal room.
What awards and honours did he receive?
Recognition came steadily. The Sangeet Natak Akademi gave him its Fellowship, its highest honour, in 1966. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 1970, and in 1976 he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, often called Asia’s Nobel, for his contribution to theatre. Tripti Mitra, his partner on stage and in life, was herself honoured with the Padma Shri in 1971, a reminder that Bohurupee’s achievement was shared.
Frequently asked questions
When did Sombhu Mitra found Bohurupee?
Most sources date the founding to 1948 in Kolkata. Britannica gives 1949. Either way, it is counted as the start of the Bengali group theatre movement.
What is Sombhu Mitra best known for?
For his stylised staging of Tagore’s Raktakarabi in 1954 and for his Bengali adaptation of Sophocles, Raja Oedipous, both landmarks of serious Indian theatre.
Was Sombhu Mitra related to other theatre figures?
Yes. He was married to the actress Tripti Mitra, and their daughter Shaoli Mitra became a respected actress, director and playwright in her own right.
Sources: Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation profile of Sombhu Mitra; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Sombhu Mitra”; Banglapedia, “Mitra, Shambhu”; Wikipedia entries for Sombhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra and Bohurupee; Natarang Pratishthan production documentation. Founding year (1948 or 1949) and the original staging dates for Dakghar differ between sources; the timeline uses only the best supported dates.