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Nandikar is a theatre group in India. The group has its headquarters in Kolkata in the state of West Bengal but works around the world.
Nandikar's story begins on June 29, 1960, when Ajitesh Bandopadhyay and Asit Bandopadhyay, along with a collection of committed young actors, broke away and formed the group, which consisted of Ajoy Ganguly, Satyan Mitra, Dipen Sengupta, later joined by Keya Chakravorty, Bibhas Chakravorty, and Rudraprasad Sengupta.
The group's early productions were mainly adaptations of non-Indian plays, like Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, Chekhov's Cherry Orchard, Arnold Wesker's Roots, Pirandello's Henry IV and Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera.
In the late 1970s, first Asit Bandopadhyay and then Ajitesh Bandopadhyay left the group. With Rudraprasad Sengupta as the director, a new era started, and Nandikar turned from a pure performance-oriented theatre group to an organisation with a wide range of projects, including the annual National Theatre Festival.
Among the group's present actresses and actors are Swatilekha Sengupta, who starred in Satyajit Ray's movie Ghare Baire (The Home and the World) (1984) and Roland Joffé's City of Joy (1992), Goutam Halder, he has left the group and formed a new one, initially becoming its director, Debshankar Halder, Sohini Sengupta Halder, who acted in Aparna Sen's movie Paromitar Ek Din (2000), and Rudraprasad Sengupta himself. Besides acting in Nandikar productions, he has also played in Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993).
Nandikar regularly performs all over India. However, during the last decade, the group has performed in several countries outside India, including Bangladesh, Germany, Sweden, UK, and the USA.
THE STAFF
Rudraprasad Sengupta, Director-President
Parimal Mukherjee, Vice-president
Debsankar Halder, Secretary
Sohini Sengupta, Assistant-secretary
Dulal Mukherjee, Treasurer
Swatilekha Sengupta, Executive Committee Member
Partha Pratim Deb, Executive Committee Member
Nandikar, 47/1,
Shyambazar Street,
Kolkata – 700004,
West Bengal,
India
Here are few videos reflect some of their work.