Amarendra Nath Dutta

Amarendra Nath Dutta, born in the year 1876, was a famous dramatist of the 19th Century. This Bengali theatre personality was a prominent actor, director and also a very significant playwright. While he was still in his teens, he set up an amateur group called the Indian Dramatic Club and staged Nabin Sen’s ‘Palashir Juddha’ i.e. 'Battle of Plassey' at Emerald Theatre. In 1895, he leased the same playhouse and renamed it Classic Theatre in 1897. It grew infamous for his populist ways to attract audiences with adventurous publicity stunts and introducing gifts of various sorts to every ticket-buyer. Initially this became the talk of the town, but, gradually drew flak.

Amarendra Nath Dutta dared to compete with Girish Ghosh in the title role of Sitaram with his own dramatization of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel in 1900. But he also rendered great service to Bengali theatre by assuring higher pay packages and bonus benefits to technicians, actors, and actresses. He revolutionized handbills, posters, and placards in content and design. In 1905, Classic Theatre was ejected and a receiver was appointed. Giving up his rights, Dutta hired Curzon Theatre and renamed it as the Grand, but within a couple of months returned to the Classic as manager. In this process he failed to regain popularity. In 1907, dejected, he made an effort to revitalize the Star Theatre as its assistant manager but soon joined the Minerva theatre as the manager, serving the Star as a paid artist till 1911. After a brief stint at re-establishing the Great National Theatre, this Bengali theatre personality rejoined the Star Theatre as a lessee in 1911-15.

As a playwright, Amarendra Nath Dutta catered to audience tastes. He began with musical drama, “Usha” in 1893 and “Manakimja” i.e. "Coy Grove" in 1894. “Hariraj” in 1897, authorship controversial, adapted from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, was perhaps the greatest success of his career. The farces “Kajer Khatam” i.e. ‘Job Finished’ in 1898, Maja i.e. ‘Fun’ and Theatre in 1900, and “Chabuk” i.e. ‘Whip’ in 1901. The famous musical plays by Amarendra Nath Dutta are “Nirmala” in 1898, “Dutipran” i.e. ‘Two Lives’ in 1900, “Shibratri” i.e. ‘Sivaratri’ in 1905, “Keya Majadar” i.e. ‘What Fun’ in 1908, and “Jibane marane” i.e. ‘In Life and Death’ inspired by Tagore’s story. The dramatizations of Chatterjee’s “Indira” in 1898, “Bhramar” in 1899, and “Sitaram” kept spectators enthralled by his adoption of theatrical devices and stunts.

“Abhinetrir Rup” i.e. “An Actress’s Beauty” in 1914 was his most original drama. He is also the first person who produced Hiralal Sen's political documentary “A tragic tale of the forgotten luminary who brought movies to India.” The drama is a tragic story based on the life of Hiralal Sen from the days when he was merely a still photography enthusiast. The drama portrays his meteoric rise in making films, closing with his subsequent fall from grace.

As an actor, Amarendra Nath Dutta inspired the other people in the world of Indian drama. Whether in Puranic, historical, social, or satirical dress, he left his imprint on presentation of characters. But the plays he chose, barring a few like “Hariraj,” Kshirod Prasad Vidyavinod’s “Alibaba,” or Bhupendranath Banerjee’s “The Sign of the Cross”, all of them hardly lent him the scope to give full vent to his acting potential. However, he has always stood unique as a promoter of Bengali theatre journalism.

This eminent Bengali theatre personality also sponsored dramas like “Saurabh” i.e. "Fragrance" in 1895 under Girish Ghosh’s editorship and “Rangalay” i.e. "Auditorium" in 1901 along with Panchkari Bandyopadhyay. He also sponsored the famous drama “Natyamandir” i.e. ‘Theatre Temple’ in 1910 under his own editorship. His role as an actor, director, and producer in Indian drama served significantly in extending the frontiers of theatre appreciation in not just West Bengal but also in other states of eastern India. This legendary Bengali theatre personality died in the year of 1916.