Episode 7: Actor and reciter par excellence, Bijoylakshmi Barman was born in Rangpur, in present day Bangladesh. She later moved to Kolkata with her family and settled there. She developed a liking for Bengali recitation at a young age, under the influence and guidance of her father. Her inherent talent was further honed by her husband’s support and encouragement, which resulted in her participating in competitions and winning numerous awards.
Bijoylakshmi’s interest in performing as a reciter in the theatre developed soon afterwards, and she got her first break in the 1970s. Her career took a turn in the 1980s when she met the famed theatre personality, Shaoli Mitra, of Pancham Baidik, and started acting in the company’s plays such as Nathabati Anathabat, Katha Amritasaman and Raja. She later worked with the doyen of Bengali theatre, Shambhu Mitra, in his notable play, Dashachakra.
Over the years, Bijoylakshmi has worked on a number of exciting, critically acclaimed and immensely popular stage shows with Kolkata-based theatre groups like Theatron, Shudrak and Gandhar. Noteworthy among them is Jaaraa Brishtite Bhijechhilo, based on a poem by Joy Goswami, and for which, she was honoured with the Natya Akademi award by the West Bengal government. In 2015, Bijoylakshmi acted in the solo audio drama, Jagyaseni Agnikanya, produced by her own group, Sisikshu.
Bijoylakshmi has released a number of cassettes, CDs and videos. Her first solo recitation on CD came out in 2014. She has published a two-part CD on Swami Vivekananda’s work in collaboration with Krishna and Sugata Basu. She has two solo video albums to her credit.
In 1983, Bijoylakshmi established her own training school in Bengali recitation called Sisikshu, which she heads with over 65 students. They regularly perform, including on the acclaimed radio station, Akashvani Kolkata. She later founded a similar institute called Sankalpita, which has over 50 students. She also teaches recitation to children at Nehru Children’s Museum, Kolkata.
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17 окт 2024
