Sombhu Mitra Biography 
Sombhu Mitra was a prominent personality from Bengal theatre. He was a well known actor, director, playwright and reciter. He worked for both theatre as well as cinema and mostly concentrated on Bengali language. In 1966, he received Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime contribution to Indian theatre and in 1970 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. In 1976 he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award. He has been associated with Indian People’s Theatre Association before founding Bohurupee in 1948. Dharti Ke Lal (1946) and Jagte Raho (1956) are the most noted Hindi films of Mitra and his most popular playwright is Chand Baniker Pala. He was married to Tripti Mitra, a well known theatre personality and their daughter, Shaoli is a noted artist of cinema and theatre.
Sombhu was born on 22 August 1915 in Kolkata. His father Sarat Kumar Mitra was an employee of the Geological Survey of India. He lost his mother Satadalbasini Mitra at the age of 12. He did his schooling at Chakraberia Middle English School and Ballygunge Government High School, Calcutta. During this time he was attracted to drama and used to read playwrights. He joined St. Xavier's College at the University of Calcutta in 1931 and was active in theatre those days. His first appearance in Bengali theatre was in Rangmahal Theatre in 1939 and later he worked with Minerva, Natyaniketan and Srirangam theaters. In 1943, he joined Indian People’s Theatre Association.
He has worked as an actor in a few Bengali and Hindi movies. A couple of his Hindi movies include - Dharti Ke Lal and Hindustan Hamara. He wrote the story and screenplay of Jagte Raho (1956) and also co-directed it along with Amit Maitra. A few of his Bengali movies are Durlabh Janma, Manik, Bau Thakuranir Hat, Pathik, Abhiyatri and 42. He directed Shubha Bibaha in 1959.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 08, 2014
