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Parthapratim Deb
Parthapratim Deb during his 2024 visit to perform Kittonkhola with the Bay Area Amateur Thespians
Born	(1963-11-08) 8 November 1963 (age 61) Kolkata, India
Alma mater	Sanskrit Collegiate School, Calcutta University
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor, director, playwright
Known for	Panchajanya, Naachni, Goynar Baksho
Spouse	Rupa Deb ​(m. 1996)​
Children	Rup Deb

Parthapratim Deb (or Partha Pratim Deb) is an Indian actor, director, playwright, singer and music composer in Bengali theater. He is a member of Nandikar since 1986 and also runs his own theatre organization, Baghajatin Alaap in 2005.

After graduation from Calcutta University, he joined Nandikar and contributed in multiple capacities to popular productions such as Nana Ronger Din, Amar Priyo Rabindranath, Madhabi, Nachni, and Panchajanya. His long-standing involvement with Nandikar highlights his commitment to the growth and evolution of Bengali theater.

Parthapratim is known for his musical talent, which sets him apart from many of his contemporaries in Bengali theater. He is among the few actors in Bengali theater who have undergone classical vocal training and can sing on stage. A key highlight in his plays is the usage of music, folk songs and dance sequences, a unique trait in Bengali theater.

Deb joined Nandikar as a trainee in 1986. Over the years, he became a theater trainer there. In addition to his work with Nandikar. Deb founded Baghajatin Alaap, where he conducts regular theater workshops. Besides, he has trained actors all over West Bengal and teaches theater to children professionally. Some children's productions he has directed include Gorabubr Swapno, Indian Idol & Swapna Muhurte (written by Debshankar Halder), Tota Kahini, Light of Asia, Monikatha, Wazeb Miyar Biya, and others.

He frequently travels to train Bengali actors and conducts workshops in other countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, Kuwait, Sweden, and Oman to train children as well as adult artists in Kolkata and abroad.

Early life and education

Parthapratim Deb was born in Kolkata, West Bengal on November 8, 1963. He completed his school education at the Sanskrit Collegiate School. Following his school education, Parthapratim pursued higher education at Calcutta University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received a scholarship from the Department of Culture, Government of India in 1990.

In 1980, Parthapratim undertook training in Rabindra Sangeet under Shri Goutam MItra. After his graduation in 1981, he started taking classes in Hindustani Classical Music under singer Pandit Sushil Bose, a student of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan in Patiala Gharana. Alongside Nandikar, With the foundation of Baghajatin Alaap, Deb along with his wife Rupa, embarked on the creative journey together. Baghajatin Alaap soon increased in number and performed Bengali theatre across India.

Career outside of theater

Parthapratim Deb has served as a dramatics teacher of the Ashok Hall Group of Schools in Kolkata, and G. D. Birla Memorial School & Aryaman Birla Institute in Uttarakhand.

Publications

Parthapratim Deb has published four original plays, including Naachni, Panchajanya, Samparka, & Mufti-e-Azam. These plays are contained in three books named:

1. নাচনি (Naachni) (Bengali: নাচনি, IAST: Nācni) is a Bengali play written by Parthapratim Deb that centers around the miserable life of dancing girls' in the Indian subcontinent. It was adapted from Subrata Mukhopadhyay's novel Rasik (Bengali: রসিক) and premiered in 2013 at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata. Naachni tells the story of young girls who are condemned to a life of being sex slaves and entertaining the rich and powerful with their dance performances. The production has a rich collection of songs and dances that depict the gore, guilt, poverty, and sexual exploitation in a system controlled by degenerate men (known as rasiks). Parthapratim directed the play and composed its music as well. Some stalwarts of contemporary Bengali theater such as Rudraprasad Sengupta, Swatilekha Sengupta, Sohini Sengupta, and Debshankar Halder.
2. পাঞ্চজন্য (Panchajanya) (Sanskrit: पाञ्चजन्य, Bengali: পাঞ্চজন্য, IAST: Pāñcajanya) is a Bengali play written by Parthapratim Deb named after Panchajanya, a mythological conch of Vishnu that produced the primeval sound of creation. Woven into the storylines of Mausala Parva, Mahaprasthanika Parva, and Harivaṃśa Parva, the play is connects the various episodes of Mahabharata based on the lament of Gandhari — wife of Dhritarashtra and mother to 100 dead sons and her eventual cursing of Krishna. In the play, Gandhari accuses Krishna of leaving the path of Dharma and therefore curses his clan (the Yadavas) to death by in-fighting. The play premiered on 16 June 2016 at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata under the banner of the theater group Nandikar. Deb played the role of the old Krishna in its debut performance, where Sohini Sengupta played the role of Gandhari.
3. দুটি নাটক (Duti Natok)
   • সম্পর্ক (Samparka) (Bengali: সম্পর্ক) is a Bengali play written by Parthapratim Deb that revolves around the lives of three generations of men who face a sudden reality check when their old deeds are come back to haunt them in the middle of a happy reunion to celebrate two birthdays. The play premiered on October 5, 2018, at the Gyan Mancha in Kolkata. Dulal Lahiri and Shantilal Mukherjee played the lead roles along with Parthapratim's son, Rup Deb.
   • Mufti-e-Azam, a Bengali play revolving around the Battle of Karbala between the army of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I (r. 680–683) and a small army led by Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, at Karbala, Sawad (modern-day southern Iraq). Inspired from Bishad Shindhu by Mir Mosharraf Hossain, this play is yet to be staged.

Theater

As Music Director/ Associate Music Director/ Lyricist/ Playback Singer

Notes

1. Spelling according to The Hindu
2. Spelling according to The Times of India.

References

1. ^ https://www.baat.us/kittonkhola Kittonkhola by BAAT (Bay Area Amateur Thespians)
2. ^ Mirroring the human condition, archived from the original on 24 January 2014, retrieved 9 June 2024
3. ^ Arindam Basu (3 July 2023). "Panchajanya: Nandikar's conch of success on its 64th birthday". India Blooms. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
4. ^ "Review: 'Panchajanya' was a nice play from Nandikar".
5. Shamayita Chakraborty (8 October 2018). "Baghajatin Alaap all set to premiere Samparka". The Times of India.
6. "Dulal Lahiri and Shantilal Mukherjee to share the stage". The Times of India. 12 July 2018. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
7. ^ "Nandikar (Bengali: নান্দীকার) - Productions". Retrieved 17 October 2024.
8. Anshuman Bhowmik (8 July 2023). "Ties that bind". The Telegraph, Kolkata. Retrieved 18 June 2024.

• Living people
• 1963 births
• Bengali theatre personalities
• University of Calcutta alumni