The father of Bengali theater

Girish Chandra Ghosh was a Bengali musician, poet, playwright, novelist, theater director and actor. He was largely responsible for the golden age of Bengali theater. He was a versatile genius, a scholar without having any formal educational background, an actor of repute and a mentor who brought up many actors and actresses, including Binodini Dasi.


Girish Chandra Ghosh was born on 28 February 1844 in Bagbazar, Kolkata, india.  He was the eighth child to his parents Nilkamal and Raimani. He received his early education at Hare School, and later studied at Oriental Seminary in the city. His father Nilkamal Ghosh was a generous and kind hearted person and Girish retained some of his father's large heartedness.

His interest in studies waned after he lost his parents and, in 1862, he left school. Girish Chandra's father-in-law helped get him an apprenticeship in a British company, and Girish Chandra soon became an expert book keeper. He became an avid reader of both Indian and western literature, the Puranas and philosophy. At about this time he became acquainted with Ishwar Chandra Gupta and started writing songs, poems and plays.

Girish Chandra initially wrote songs for Michael Madhusudan Dutt's play Sharmistha, staged by the Baghbazar Amateur Theater. He then acted the role of Nimchand in Dinabandhu Mitra's Sadhavar Ekadashi. The Baghbazar group established the National Theater in 1871, but Girish Chandra fell out with the group. In 1877, his first play, Agamani, was staged at the Great National Theater, which he joined as manager in 1880.

Girish Chandra's play Chaitanyalila, with Binodini Dasi in the role of Sri Chaitanya, was staged at the star theater on 20 September 1884. Ramakrishna Paramhansadev came to see the play. Girish Chandra met Ramakrishna on this occasion and became his disciple. He then started writing plays on religious themes. He also worked with other theaters.

Girish Chandra wrote nearly 40 plays and acted and directed many more. His plays were on religious, historical and social themes, among them Abhimanyuvadh (1881), Sitar Vanavas (1881), Sitaharan (1882), Pandaver Ajvatavas (1882), Prafulla (1889), Maukulamanjari (1892), Jana (1894), Abu Hussain (1896), Validan (1904), Sirajuddaula (1905), Meer Kasem (1906), Chhatrapati Shivaji (1907), Shabkaracharya (1910) Kalapahad, Haranidhi and Vilvamangal Thakur. He also translated Shakespeare's Macbeth (1893) into Bangla and dramatised Bankimchandra's novels Mrnalini, Visvrksa and Durgeshnandini, Madhusudan's epic meghnadbadh and Nabinchandra's poem Palashir Yuddha.

Girish Chandra acted in a variety of roles. His performance in the dual roles of Ramachandra and Meghnad in Meghnadbadh in 1877 was applauded by the editor of Sadharani, Akshoy Chandra Sarkar, who referred to him as the 'Garrick of Bengal'. As director, Girish Chandra helped to develop many actors and actresses. He also founded a dance school to train prostitutes for the stage. For the convenience of actors, he modified the blank verse of Madhusudan into a form known after him as Gairish Chhanda (Girish metre).

Girish Chandra's lifelong association with the theater at its nascent stage greatly helped the development of Bengali theater, transforming what had been amateur theater into a professional one. His novel Bhakta Dhruva was adapted into a film by the poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. He was also the subject of a biographical film, in Bengali, Mahakavi Girish Chandra (1956), directed by Modhu Bose.

In 2016, a new play was staged on the life of Girish Chandra Ghosh, titled 'Ek Mancha Ek Jiban' (One Stage, One Life), starring Debshankar Haldar as Girish Chandra Ghosh, and directed by Soumitra Mitra.Ek Mancha Ek Jiban. Author of the largest number of Bangla plays and perhaps the greatest actor of his time, Girish Chandra died in Kolkata on 8 February 1912.