Prabhitangsu Das

Born on 24 May 1969 in Agartala, Tripura, Shri Prabhitangsu Das grew up in a cultural environment. His father Late Haripada Das was pioneer of Puppetry in Tripura. He learnt the nuances of the art form his father. He also sharpened his skill of puppetry by participating in a puppet workshop conducted by UNICEF and Academic Central Puppet Theatre of U.S.S.R. in 1988. Prabhitangsu took the charge of Tripura Puppet Theatre after the sad demise of his father in 1999. He started to promote the age old tribal, cultural, and folklore tradition of Tripura through his contemporary stylization. He has conducted many Puppet workshops among the schoolchildren and teachers in programmes organized by C.C.R.T. and N.E.Z.C.C. He is a visiting faculty of the National School of Drama (TIE Wing), Tripura. Some important productions scripted and directed by Prabhitangsu Das are Janmadin, Tetnai, Bandhu – The Alien Friend, Puppet Express, Rabindranath Tagore's Bisarjan, Oparachita, Green-green, Chandalika, etc. Bisarjan was highly appreciated in the prestigious festival ‘Days of India in Germany’ in Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden. He is also experimenting with the tribal cultural heritage of Tripura. The successful showcasing of the famous tribal dance of Tripura – ‘Hojagiri’ through string puppets was the first footstep of this experimentation. He is now working with children and youth to promote and popularize the art form (Hojagiri) through Rod, String, and Shadow & Glove Puppets. For his services to art, Shri Prabhitangsu Das has received honours including the Srijon Samman (2008), and the Tripura Samman (2015), for popularizing Puppetry in Tripura. Shri Prabhitangsu Das receives the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to the art of puppetry of Tripura.