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KALIDAS GANGULY
"That I am still standing is one of my prides"

Born in Chandannagar on the 20th of January 1933, late Kalidas Ganguly, the eldest son of the legendary playwright late Nripendranath Ganguly, was known for his contribution in the fields of drama, theatre and cinema.

He received his education at the Dupleix College of Chandannagar. He passed his matriculation in the year 1949. As a result of being brought up in an environment full of actors, he was introduced to many famous actors. His first appearance was as ‘Carvalho’ in the play ‘Kedar Ray’ (1956). He then went on to act in several other plays all staged somewhere in Chandannagar. He also directed some very well known plays like ‘Bayen’, ‘Satya Mara Geche’, ‘Anthony Firingi’ and ‘Sher Afghan’. Later, he joined the professional theatre with the play ‘Anthony Kabiyal’ (1967-1968) by Kasi Biswanath Mancha. Inspired by another well-known actor Asit Baran, his acting opposite the celebrated actress Tripti Mitra in the play ‘Didha’ brought him high praises.

His acting then got a new shade when he joined the very reputed ‘Star’. It was this time (1969-1970) that he acted with all his might with the eminent actors and actresses of those days i.e. Bankim Ghosh, Ajit Banerjee, Subrata Chatterjee and Tarun kumar. After being invited by the great actor Jahar Ray, he left ‘Star’ to join ‘Rangmahal’where he acted in the play ‘Annanya’. His performance in Samar Mukhopadhyay’s play ‘Bish’, Shyamaprasad Mancha, 1975-76, took him to the pinnacle of glory.

He acted in two films ‘Raater Rajanigandha’ and ‘Epaar Opaar’.

In the year 1978 he joined the operas and thereby acted in several of them : ‘Kalyani Opera’, ‘Manjari Opera’, ‘Royal Binapani Opera’, ‘Kolikata Yatra Samaj’, ‘Shilpatirtha’ etc.

As he belonged to the transition period, the Overacting of Olden Days and his father’s Responsive Acting influenced him to do something new.

In spite of the never ending need for money that surrounded him throughout his life, he never compromised his passion for anything and continued to amaze his fans with his creativity as actor and director of plays.