Bratya Basu wins prestigious Dinabandhu Mitra Puroskar

Bratya Basu, the theatre sensation of Bengal has won this year's prestigious Dinabandhu Mitra Puroskar conferred by Paschim Banga Natya Akademi, a wing of the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Govt. of West Bengal. He received this award from theatre exponent Usha Ganguly at Rabindra Sadan on 26th evening. Basu has donated the entire cash award of fifty thousand rupees to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

Despite his commitment to state politics Bratya Basu's indomitable spirit and unending passion for theatre has enabled him to make path breaking contribution in Bengali theatre. By winning this, he joined the league of theatre maestros such as Manmatha roy, Utpal Dutta, Shova Sen, Tripti Mitra, Soumitra Chattopadhyay, Rudraprasad Sengupta. Basu's journey in theatre began in 1996 when he penned down his first play, Ashaleen which won him many accolades. His other important plays include 'Ruddhasangeet', 'Hemlat-The Prince of Garanhata', 'Krishna Gahbor', 'Sateroi July', 'Bikele Bhorer Sarsheful', 'Boma', etc. In addition to being an accomplished playwright, Basu is a theatre scholar, a distinguished actor and a remarkable theatre director as well. He has already won several awards and recognitions including Ritwik Ghatak Smriti Puroskar, awarded by Rajshahi Ritwik Ghatak Memorial Committee, Bangladesh. In 2017 he bagged the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Award as The Best Director in India for directing the play, Awdya Shesh Rajani. Early this year, ABP Ananda has conferred the Shera Bangali samman to Basu for his exemplary contribution to Bengali theatre.