Prabir Mitra: From a cricketer to 'Rangin Nawab'

Prabhir Mitra used to say, 'Acting is my love, meditation-knowledge. Acting is my everything.' Prabir Mitra, known as the 'Rangin Nawab' of Bengali cinema, has left all this behind.

He played the role of the Nawab in the movie Rangin Nawab Sirajdaula. Two movies were made about Nawab Sirajdaula in this country. The late Anwar Hossain acted in one. It was black and white and was the first Nawab Sirajdaula movie. Rangin Nawab Sirajdaula was made much later in which Prabir Mitra played the role of Nawab Sirajdaula.

Acting in Ritwik Ghatak's much-acclaimed movie `Titas Ekti Nadir Naam' has been a milestone in Prabir Mitra's career. This movie gave him a different kind of fame. Prabir Mitra used to say, `The movie Rangin Nawab Sirajdaula was like a dream. It's like getting something bigger than asking for it.'

In 1969, Prabir Mitra first stood in front of the camera to act in the late H. Akbar's film 'Jolchhobi'. Although the film was released on January 1, 1971. At the beginning of his career, Prabir Mitra acted in a few films as a 'hero'. After that, he gained audience love even after working as a character actor.

During his school life, he acted in Rabindranath's play 'Dakghar'. That's how he started acting. He has acted in more than four hundred films, including 'Titas ekti nodir naam', 'Jibon Trishna', 'Seyana', 'Jaliat', 'Faryad', 'Rokto Sopoth', 'Joy Parajoy', 'Angar', 'Fakir Majnu Shah', 'Madhumita', 'Ashanto Dhewu', 'Alonkar', 'Anurag', 'Pratigga', 'Tarulta', 'Gayer Chhele', and 'Putrabadhu'.

Actor Prabir Mitra once played cricket in the Dhaka First Division. He also played hockey. In this regard, he said in an interview: 'I never thought of becoming an actor. I wanted to spend my life playing. Suddenly acting pulled me like a magnet. Since then, I have become an actor.'

Prabir Mitra has always received praise from the audience for his aesthetic and tasteful acting. But the number of awards he has received in his long career is very few. In 1982, he received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for the movie 'Bordo Bhalo Lok Chhilo'. Then in 2018, he was awarded the National Film Award in the Lifetime Achievement category.

For the past 5 years, due to knee pain, he has spent most of his days at home watching TV. Even though he is confined to his house, his mind is focused on FDC and shooting. Prabir Mitra's son Mithun Mitra said that his father's hearing capacity was decreasing day by day. Because of that, he could not hear properly. He could answer when he spoke loudly. However, he used to eat and drink properly.

Prabir Mitra said in an interview last year: 'It seems like I haven't acted for a thousand years. I really want to act. I go to FDC, I chat with familiar people again. My mind is racing to go to FDC. My wife has been dead for almost 20 years. I miss her absence a lot.'From now on, the film lovers of the country will also miss the colorful Nawab of Bengal, Prabir Mitra.