Suman Mukhopadhyay, also known as Suman Mukherjee, is a popular Bengali film director and one of the renowned theatre personalities of West Bengal. He, one of the popular faces of contemporary Bengali theatre, has tremendously contributed towards the betterment of Bengali theatre. Suman, with his astute directorial skills, have presented many Bengali plays to the audiences.
Career of Suman Mukhopadhyay
Suman Mukhopadhyay has done various theatre productions ranging from European Drama to major adaptations of Bengali literature. Among the adaptations are Teesta Paarer Brittanto and Samay Asamayer Brittanto, which have been adapted from novels by Mephisto and Debesh Roy, based on Klaus Mann`s German novel. He was also instrumental in staging Rabindranath Tagore`s Raktakarabi; Falguni-Prelude, Shakespeare/Brecht`s Coriolanus and Sudraka`s The Little Clay Cart. He also 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. His Man of Heart was also invited to Barbican Centre, London. In 2007 he directed Fireface, a play by Marius von Mayenburg in association with the Goethe Institute.
In the year 2005 he made his first directorial debut named Herbert. The film won a National Award for Best Bengali Film. As a renowned director of theatre his last two directions has been William Shakespeare`s King Lear` and Rabindranath Tagore`s Bisarjan. His second film was adapted from the popular novel of Rabindranath Tagore. The name of the film was Chaturanga. The film starred popular actress Rituparna Sengupta. The film received a Gran Prix award at Bridgefest, Sarajevo; the Best Director award at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and the Golden Palm at Mexico International Film Festival.
In the year 2009, he made Mahanagar@Kolkata. The music of the film was performed by rock sensation Rupam Islam, and that won him National Award as well. The film was screened in Munich, Kerala and New York film festivals.
His next film, an adaptation of Shesher Kabita by Tagore, is in pre-production. The film will star Konkona Sen Sharma and Rahul Bose.
Filmography
Feature Films Directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay
* Herbert (2005)
* Chaturanga (2008)
* Mahanagar@Kolkata (2009)
* Shesher Kobita (announced)
Awards Won by Suman Mukhopadhyay
Chaturanga, one of the feature films he directed, have received the Gran Prix at Bridge Fest, Sarajevo; Best Director at Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and the Golden Palm at Mexico International Film Festival
