Sabitabrata Dutta was born in 1934. He was a rare talent in Bengali theatre including singer-actor-director, who used this identity to distinguish his kind of theatre from others. He mainly started out as an actor at a very early stage. Right from his debut he was accepted and appreciated by the audience. His contribution to the Bengali play has been immense.
Biography of Sabitabrata Dutta
Beginning primarily as an actor in Bohurupee in 1948, he was remembered for his characterizations of Pingra Singh in Tulsi Lahiri`s Pathik i.e. `Wayfarer` in 1949 and Bishu Pagal in Rabindranath Tagore`s Raktakarabi i.e. `Red Oleander` in 1954. He left with Lahiri and Gita Bhaduri who became his wife and a reputed actress to form Rupakar in 1955. Dutta`s comic productions of Sukumar Ray`s Chalachittachanchari i.e. `The Moving Mind-Bee` in 1957 and Amritalal Basu`s Byapika biday i.e. `Farewell, Virago` in 1960 established him as a director. His staging of dramatized Tagore stories, and particularly the plays Kaler jatra i.e. `Time`s Journey` in 1962 and Achalayatan i.e. `Immovable Institution` in 1966, proved successful. In Rupakar he created the fullest scope for powerful singing roles, such as Mukundadas in 1968, Manmatha Ray`s Lalan Fakir in 1970, Nidhubabur tappa i.e. `Nidhu Babu`s Tappa Songs` in 1979, and Nazrul in 1980. He directed his own play, Alo dekhao i.e. `Show Light` in 1972.
In 1963, Sabitabrata Dutta entered the professional stage and became immensely popular as the singing hero in Bidhayak Bhattacharya`s Antony kabiyal i.e. `Antony the Poet-duellist` in 1966. He revived for Rupakar ten years later. He acted for several commercial theatres, for example Katha Kao i.e. "Speak Up" in 1963 and Nam Bibhrat i.e. `Name Muddle` in 1964 were very famous. He also acted some plays such as adapted from Wilde`s The Importance of Being Earnest at Rungmahal, Begum Marie Biswas in 1970 and Kothay pabo tare i.e. `Where Can I Find Him?` in 1971 at Biswaroopa. Bidrohi nayak i.e. `Rebel Hero` and Janapadabadhu i.e. `Courtesan` at the Star in 1973, and Tushar jug aschhe i.e. `The Ice Age Is Coming` in 1976 at Circarina were some other names as well. After 1980, however, Dutta`s self as the singer pushed that of the actor and producer to the background and he found himself in great demand for patriotic songs, particularly suited to his stentorian voice. He also acted in and served as playback singer for many films. Satibrata Dutta died in 1995.
