Renowned thespian Usha Ganguly passes away at 75

Renowned South Asian thespian and founder of Rangakarmee, Usha Ganguly passed away today at the age of 75, due to a heart attack, at her residence in south Kolkata.

The veteran director was known for her non-conformist productions. She is credited for developing Hindi plays in Kolkata. In 1976, she founded the group Rangakarmee, which worked on bold productions like Mahabhoj, Rudali, Court Martial and Antaryatra. In the late 70s and 80s, her productions introduced a new narrative to the theatre arena of Bengal, and created a new wave of theatre audience, who were previously familiar with only Bengali and English plays. Ganguly was applauded with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for direction in 1998, and also honoured by the West Bengal Government as the Best Actress, for the play Gudia Ghar. She also worked with Rituparno Ghosh during the scripting for the film, Raincoat.

In an interview with The Daily Star in 2014, she mentioned, "From what I've seen, there are a lot of talented actors and theatre activists with great potential, but I feel the sort of space women need to work and thrive in as theatre performers is missing in Bangladesh."

Several noted artistes posted messages on social media, in remembrance of the thespian.

Bangladeshi actor and director Sara Zaker wrote on social media, "Today, I changed the profile picture, recalling Usha Ganguly. My friend, philosopher and guide, left this world today. The photo is from Naam Gotrohin Mantor Meyera… Farewell my friend. But we had so much to talk about, what was the hurry?"

Freedom fighter and thespian Nasiruddin Yousuff wrote, "Usha Ganguly brought a storm of independent theatrical language in South Asian Theatre. We were fascinated by many of her plays, including Himmati Mai, Rudali, Court Martial."