Girish Chandra Ghosh

Girish Chandra Ghosh (28 February 1844 – 8 February 1912) was a Bengali musician, poet, playwright, novelist, theatre director and actor. He was largely responsible for the golden age of Bengali theatre. He can be referred to as the Father of Bengali Theatre. He was a versatile genius, a scholar without having any formal educational background, an actor of repute and a mentor who brought up many actors and actresses, including Binodini Dasi.

He cofounded the Great National Theatre, the first Bengali professional theatre company in 1872, wrote nearly 40 plays and acted and directed many more, and later in life became a noted disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.

Born in Bagbazar, Kolkata, in 1844, the eighth child to his parents Nilkamal and Raimani, he received his early education at Hare School, and later studied at Oriental Seminary in the city. His father Nilkamal Ghosh was a generous and kind hearted person and Girish retained some of his father's large heartedness. He lost his parents early in life and went up to educate himself. Girish after leaving school in 1862 acquired an apprenticeship with a British Company in book keeping. It was around this time that Girish became acquainted with Ishwar Chandra Gupta and began writing plays, songs and poetry.

Girish was a prominent actor in the Bagbazar Amateur Theatre where he had Ardhendu Mustafi, another great contemporary actor, as his partner. Together they performed in 'Sadhabar Ekadashi' by famous playwright Dinabandhu Mitra which became very popular. Later Bagbazar Amateur was renamed in 1871 as the National Theatre. Girish however left National Theatre and went to form the Great National Theatre in 1873 which he became manager of in 1880. In 1877 Girish staged his first play 'Agamani' at The Great National Theatre. Later he also worked in Minerva Theatre and went to become a manager in Star Theatre. The maiden show at the Star Theatre was 'Daksha Jagna' by Girish Chandra Ghosh on the auspicious day of 21 July 1883. With Binodini Dasi, he staged his play, Chaitanyalila, at the Star Theatre on 20 September 1884, with, Sri Ramakrishna in the audience. Girish wrote about 86 plays, most of which were based upon stories from Purana, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Among his famous works were Buddhadev Charit, Purna Chandra, Nasiram, Kalapahar, Ashoka, Shankaracharya, Chaitanyalila, Nimai Sannyas, Rup-Sanatan, Vilwamangal, Prahlad Charit. Most of his plays were performed in Star Theatre in Calcutta. Girish also translated Shakespeare's Macbeth play into Bangla in 1893.

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