BIOGRAPHY

Chaturanga, based on the book by Rabindranath Tagore, is Suman Mukhopadhyay’s second feature film. In 2005, Suman completed his first feature film, Herbert, based on a novel by Nabarun Bhattacharya. The film got the National award for Best Regional Film. He is also conferred with awards like the Most Promising Director (BFJA), Best Debut Director (Lankesh Award) and Audience Award in Dhaka International Film Festival. The film has been screened in number of national and international film festivals including Cannes; Florence; Bangkok; Osian Cinefan; Zanzibar; Mumbai, Pune and Kerala. Suman has done his film training from New York Film Academy, USA.

He has also done theatre productions ranging from European drama to major adaptations of Bengali masterpieces. Among which are Teesta Paarer Brittanto and Samay Asamayer Brittanto, adapted from the novels by Debesh Roy and Mephisto, based on Klaus Mann’s German novel. Teesta has become one of the most celebrated productions of the Bengali stage. He has also staged Rabindranath’s Raktakarabi; Falguni-Prelude, Shakespeare/Brecht’s Coriolanus and Sudraka’s The Little Clay Cart. He directed The Man of the Heart (Life and times of Lalon Fokir) at the University of California, Berkeley and Girish Karnad’s Nagamandala at the Department of Theatre, Kalamazoo College, Michigan. This year he directed Fireface, a play by Marius Von Mayenburg with Goethe Institut.

Direction in films and television

2008 Screenplay and Direction of the feature film CHATURANGA, based on the Rabindranath Tagore novel. (35mm)
2005 Screenplay and Direction of full length feature film HERBERT (35mm).
2001 Direction, Cinematography, Editing of four short films (16mm) produced by New York Film Academy.
2000 RANGAMANCHA, a theatre series, featuring 13 plays; for Alpha Bangla TV.
1997 TARKASH , Crime Thriller Series of 6 episodes for ZEE TV (Private National Channel)
Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor
1995 WE SHALLOVERCOME, a Short Film for the Education of
Street Children; Supported by the British Commonwealth, U.K. 1995
1994 THEATRE DIRECTORS AT WORK, a Documentary Series of 26 episodes featuring major Indian directors; for The National Network of Television

Film awards

2005 BEST BENGALI FEATURE FILM, NATIONAL AWARDS, INDIA (HERBERT)
AUDIENCE AWARD, Dhaka International Film Festival (HERBERT)
LANKESH AWARD, Bangalore – BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR (HERBERT)
BFJA AWARD, Kolkata – MOST PROMISING DIRECTOR (HERBERT)

Films screened (Festivals Attended)

2008 Montreal World Film Festival, Canada (CHATURANGA)
Sao Paolo International Film Festival, Brazil – Invited (CHATURANGA)
2007 MIT, CAMBRIDGE, USA (HERBERT)
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, USA (HERBERT)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, USA (HERBERT)
2006 RIVER TO RIVER, FLORENCE INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL, ITALY (HERBERT)
WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, BANGKOK, THAILAND (HERBERT)
OSIAN CINEFAN, NEW DELHI (HERBERT)
ZANZIBAR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, TANZANIA (HERBERT)
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, The Marche du Film (HERBERT)
ASIA SOCIETY, NEW YORK (HERBERT)
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF MUMBAI (MAMI) -(HERBERT)
DHAKA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Dhaka, Bangladesh (HERBERT)
PUNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Pune, India (HERBERT)
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK (HERBERT)
2005 KERALA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Trivandrum, India (HERBERT)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY (HERBERT)
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO (HERBERT)
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA CAMPAIGN (HERBERT)
1996 LONDON SHORT FILM FESTIVAL, London, UK (WE SHALL OVERCOME)
1995 INTERNATIONAL VIDEO FESTIVAL, Trivandrum, India. (WE SHALL OVERCOME).

Director (Theatre)

2007 AGUNMUKHO, based on ‘Feuergesicht’ by Marius Von Mayenburg, Tritiyo Sutra and Max Mueller Bhavan.
2006 RAKTAKARABI, a play by Rabindranath Tagore, Tritiyo Sutra.
KANGAL MALSAT, Tritiyo Sutra and Chetana
2005 MAN OF THE HEART, University of California, Berkeley, USA
NAGAMANDALA, a play by Girish Karnad. Kalamazoo College, Michigan, USA
2003 THE LITTLE CLAY CART (MRICHCHHAKATIKA), BY Sudraka for the Dept. of Theatre and Films at The University of Toledo, USA.
SAMAY ASAMAYER BRITTANTO, based on a novel by Debesh Roy, Chetana
2002 FALGUNI : SUCHANA – a play by Rabindranath Thakur.
A JOURNEY WITH RANG NUMBER – an interactive performance with paintings of Hiran Mitra and actors of Chetana.
MEPHISTO – from a novel by Klaus Mann. A joint production of different theatre groups of Kolkata.
2001 KALANTAK LAL FITA, based on a short story by Sibram Chakraborty.
2000 TEESTA PAARER BRITTANTO, based on a novel by Debesh Roy, Chetana
1999 JAISA-KA-TAISA, an abridged version of a play by Girish Chandra Ghose
1997 THE MEASURES TAKEN, (English) a play by Bertolt Brecht for the Theatre Department of Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, USA
GANTABYA, translation of the play ‘Bethune’ by Rod Langley, Chetana
1992 CORIOLANUS, a play by William Shakespeare as adapted by Bertolt Brecht, Chetana
NATIR KATHA, an adaptation of Chekhov’s ‘Chorus Girl’ by Bibhas Chakraborty
1990 DAIN, a play by Abhijit Sen; financially assisted by Sangeet Natak Academy, Chetana
HARIPODO HARIBOL, a play by Indrashish Laharry
JANANI, a play by Indrashish Laharry

Writer

TEESTA PAARER BRITTANTO, a drama adaptation of a novel by Debesh Roy
CORIOLANUS translation in Bengali from the original by William Shakespeare
BETHUNE translation from the original by Rod Langley)
MEPHISTO translation and adaptation from the original by Ariane Mnouchkine/Klaus Mann

Numbers of articles and interviews published in different newspapers, magazines, journals.

Theatre Awards and Citations

WEST BENGAL STATE THEATRE ACADEMY AWARD for Best Direction (Play TEESTA PAARER BRITTANTO)
ANANDALOK CHANCELLOR AWARD for Best Production (Play TEESTA PAARER BRITTANTO)
ACHINTYA CHAUDHURY MEMORIAL AWARD (Play TEESTA PAARER BRITTANTO)
ASIAN PAINTS SHIROMONI PURASHKAR for Best Production (Play GANTABYA)
DRAMA ACADEMY OF INDIA AWARD for Best Production (Play GANTABYA)
PRAMATESH BARUA MEMORIAL AWARD for Best Production (Play GANTABYA)
WEST BENGAL STATE THEATRE ACADEMY AWARD for Best Production (Play GANTABYA)
SHYAMAL SEN SMRITI PURASHKAR for Best Production (Play CORIOLANUS)

Festivals Participated

Prithvi Festival, Mumbai
Tagore Festival, Govt. of West Bengal, Kolkata
Bharat Rang Mahotsav, National School Of Drama, New Delhi
Nehru Centre’s National Theatre Festival, Mumbai
Swarnutsav, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Chandigarh
National Theatre Festival, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Kerala
State Theatre Academy Festival, Mumbai
International Theatre Institute Festival, Dhaka, Bangladesh
International Theatre Festival, Chattogram, Bangladesh

Professional contributions and awards (selected)

1997-2003 Executive Member of Chetana
2006 Junior Fellow, Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India
2006 Off-off Broadway run of Man of the Heart at Kraine Theater, New York
2005 Fall Artist-in-residence at University of California at Berkeley. Directing “Man of the Heart’. A play on Lalon Shah Fakir.
2003 Fall Visiting Assistant Professor in Department of Theatre and Films, University of Toledo, Ohio, USA.
2003 Cultural Delegate 0f Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Govt. of India to Prague Quadrennial, Czech Republic.
2001 Scholarships from Asian Cultural Council, New York, USA
1997 Scholarships from Asian Cultural Council, New York, USA
1996 Scholarships from Asian Cultural Council, New York, USA
1990 Scholarships from Asian Cultural Council, New York, USA
1996 Cultural Delegate, United States Information Agency, New York, USA
1990 Trinity College, Hartford, USA

Related professional/teaching experience/position

Member – Academic Council, National School of Drama
2005 Guest Acting lecturer in Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
2002 Project consultant to the production of THE MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, with the
hearing handicapped children of National Institute of Hearing Handicapped, Hyderabad.
1996 Conducted Lecture Demonstration and Workshops with the students of Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, USA

Part-time lecturer of Mass Communication and Television Production in Rabindra Bharati
University, Calcutta.

Training

2002 Participant in the month long La Mama Umbria International Theatre Director’s Symposium, Umbria, Italy.
Guest Directors: Yuri Lyubimov, Jonas Jurasas, Jean Guy Lecat, Ola Mafaalani, Francoise Grund, Seth Barrish,
2001 New York Film Academy, New York, USA
Diploma in film-making.
1993 Participated in the International Institute Workshop held in Munich, Germany; as a part of the 25 WeltCongress, Des International Theatre Institutes.
1991 Training in Trinity / La Mama Performing Arts Programme; an intensive Programme in Performing Arts and Theatre, in New York, USA
Teachers: Joseph Chaikin, Leonardo Shapiro, Ruth Maleczech, Joan Mackintosh.