Omkar Das Manikpuri

Omkar Das Manikpuri
Omkar Das Manikpuri as Charandas Chor play at Bharat Bhavan Bhopal Oct 2015
Born	1971 (age 45–46) Brindanagar, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh,
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2012–present

Omkar Das Manikpuri (born 1970) is an Indian stage and film actor, native of Brindanagarm, currently residing in Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, who has been a member of folk-theatre doyen Habib Tanvir's, the Naya Theatre company for several years. He made his Hindi film debut as a male lead in Aamir Khan productions' Peepli Live (2010).

Omkar Das Manikpuri was born and brought up in village near Bhilai in Durg district, Chhattisgarh, where he studied till fifth grade in school, when the death of his father forced him to join a village folk-theatre troupe, Mandali. He shifted to Brindanagar (Ward No. 20) in Bhilai in 1981.

Omkar Das started his career at the age of 17, as a performer in the local form of folk theatre called Nacha and joined an itinerant village theatre group. Performing often in makeshift and open air stages he honed his skills as a singer, dancer, mimic and a stand-up comic. Afterwards he joined Naya Theatre as an actor, founded by Habib Tanvir in Bhopal. With them he has performed, in India and abroad, such timeless classics as Agra Bazaar, Charandas Chor, and Kamdev ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna and Sadak. It was during a performance of the popular play Charandas Chor in Bhopal, that he was spotted by Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui, the co-director of the film, which led to him auditioning for the film in Bhopal.

Subsequently, he made his film debut in Bollywood with Aamir Khan productions' Peepli Live (2010), where he played the main lead. Initially he had auditioned for a minor role of Machua, but later he was given the lead of Natha, which was till then reportedly to be played by Aamir Khan himself. His upcoming projects include two Chhattisgarhi films and a Chhattisgarhi folk music album. In 2014, he acted in Ebn-E-Batuta directed by Varun Middha, which was released on 4 April 2014.