Few Pictures Of MEGAPODE

SUSHANTA BANDYOPADHYAY (Our Founder)

"I have read Stanislavski, seen Sisir Bhadury in action and had the opportunity to work with Habib Tanvir......."

Born On:

6th of August 1936

Education:

• Matriculation from Howrah Zilla School, Howrah
• I.A. from Presidency College, Kolkata
• B.A. (Hons) from Scottish Church College, Kolkata
• M.A. (History) from Calcutta University, Kolkata (Sarojini Gold Medallist)

Notable friends of school days:

Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Ashoke Palit, Shankar Basumallick, Dr. Ratikanta Dutta, etc.

Notable friends of college and university days:

Shakti Chattopadhyay, Dibbya Bhattacharya, Mohit Chattopadhyay, Nittyopriyo Ghosh, Amiya Bagchi, Sumanta Bandyopadhyay, Manoranjan Chattopadhyay, Sandipan Chattopadhyay, Amitabha Dasgupta, Naliniranjan Mitra, etc.

Professional Life:

As a Lecturer of History in Charuchandra Evening College from 1959-1996. Was the Head of the Department and a Member of the Governing body for nearly two decades. Also officiated as the Head of the Institution for a considerable period of time.

Upbringing in Theatre:

• An urdent follower of Sisir Bhadury.
• During school days was baptised into theatre by school teacher Gishpati Bhattacharya.
• Had the opportunity to work under the active supervision of the legendary Ahindra Chowdhury during his university days.
• Later had the scope to work closely with Habib Tanvir through rigorous workshops.

First Stage Appearance:

At the age of 6 in the year 1942.

Plays where he acted during his school days:

Mukut, Chandragupta, Maharaja Nandakumar, Pratapadittya, etc. (His co-actor was none else than Soumitra Chattopadhyay in these plays)

Plays where he acted during his college and university days:

Kabayah, Birinchibaba, Mukhosh, etc.

Association with theatre organisations:

Established Rangaroop in the year 1956 at Howrah. Notable productions of Rangaroop were Adarsha Hindu Hotel, Dwipantwor, Jeley Dingi, Swikriti, Bhangan, etc. At the same time in the same year along with Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Dibbya Bhattacharya, Manoranjan Chattopadhyay, Ashoke Palit, Mukunda Basumallick, etc., he founded Chhayanat. Satadhi, Kabayah, Thakurda, etc were produced under the banner of Chhayanat. In the year 1972 on the 2nd day of October founded Nat-Ranga all by himself. Renowned productions like Sadhabar Ekadoshi, Fazal Ali Aaschay, Bhitti, Kabi Kahini, Khadda, Kabayah, Lokta, Bidhi O Byatikrom, Tapur Tupur, Bekar Bidyalankar, etc were directed by him. Later on worked as the production designer for reputed productions like Dibanishi, Muktadhara, Hadish, Bhut-Adbhut, etc.

In the year 1981 an 8-day long theatre festival of Nat-Ranga was organised at Bani Niketan Mancha Howrah where 13 theatre productions (all directed by him) were staged. This is a historical happening in the field of Group Theatre.

Awards received through activities in theatre:

• Best Actor along with Soumitra Chattopadhyay for the play Mukhosh (written by Prabodh Ghosh and directed by Ahindra Chowdhury) in the Inter-University Youth Festival (1956). Was referred as 'Bharat Gourav' by the then Vice-President of India, Dr. Radhakrishnan.
• 'Abhinoy' puraskar for the play Fazal Ali Aaschay in the year 1978.
• 'Dishari' puraskar for the play Fazal Ali Aaschay in the year 1978.
• Numerous Awards for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director for plays like Kabayah, Lokta, Dibanishi, Fazal Ali Aaschay, Bidhi O Byatikrom , etc from different State and National level theatre competetions organised by Allahabad Nattya Sangh, Barnak (Mumbai), Basanti Institute (Chittaranjan), etc.

Current Status:

As per the decision of the Executive Committee of Nat-Ranga he is the Lifetime President of the organisation since 1997.

Acts regulary in the play Dwidhakaal (written and directed by Sohan Bandopadhyay).

Acts infrequently in the play Megapode (written and directed by Sohan Bandopadhyay).

NAT-RANGA (1972-2005)

Profile of the DIRECTOR (Sohan Bandopadhyay)

Born on
10th February 1973.

Educational qualifications
B. Sc. (Hons), PGDMM.

Debut as an Actor
1985, Spy for a day.

Debut as a Director
1998, BHUT-ADBHUT
(a play by Kallol Chakraborty)

Debut as a Playwright
1991, Protidwandi

Plays written till date
10 full length plays
(Protidwandi,
Omanobik, Guhamanab,
Ganotantrer Naam
Jabonika, Dwidhakaal,
Megapode, Gulbaaj – The
Man Of The Match,
Snuopoka, Aami Weds Aami and
Beokuf Ek Chnaad)

Plays directed till date
06 full length plays
(Bhut Adbhut, Subornojayanti,
Ganatantrer Naam Jabonika,
Dwidhakaal, Megapode and
Gulbaaj- The Man Of The Match)
and 02 short plays
(Kabayah and Nishir Daak)

Most talked about Productions
Megapode and Gulbaaj-The
Man Of The Match

Published Plays
Megapode, Gulbaaj-The
Man Of The Match,
Aami Weds Aami, Snuopoka and
Beokuf Ek Chnaad

MEGAPODE (2007) Synopsis

At the helm of extreme force elasticity gives up and a resultant distortion creeps in. Naturality is a phenomena which does not accept imposition in any form.
Parents of the generation are expecting the perfection of a full grown individual from the kids of the day. Failure is treated as an unpardonable offence. Given this situation what happens if a full grown and individualistic generation comes out of the womb, just like the ‘megapode’ birds and challenges the dominance of the parents? Will we be able to accept it?

‘Megapode’ is a complex dream but yet so real that it shakes us to the core of our human existence.

DWIDHAKAAL (2006)