Sujan Mukhopadhyay to be honoured soon!

Sujan Mukhopadhyay (Neel) will be honoured with this year’s Ramaprasad Banik Memorial Award at Purba Paschim Theatre Festival. Meanwhile, veteran theatre worker Megnad Bhattacharya will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to theatre.
Talking about the award, Sujan said, “I am elated. I have never worked with Ramaprasad Banik on stage. But I was privileged to attend his workshop in Chetana. He gave us training in voice modulation and that was one of the finest experiences that I remember in my theatre career. He was a fantastic teacher. Think about his students — Chandanda (Sen), Shantida (Shantilal Mukherjee), Laboni Sarkar and others. All of them are stalwarts. It is an honour to receive an award that bears his name.”
While Sujan has not worked with Ramaprasad Banik on stage, he has acted with him in television. “We used to work together in the megaserial,

Janmabhumi

. I remember one incident. We went to north Bengal on an outdoor shoot. It was the time when scripts were written impromptu on many occasions. I remember the director asked Ramada to write a portion. Ramada suddenly told me, ‘I am putting that song you used to sing in Kabir’. And I was floored. It was a nice sequence in which I sang the song in a misty

hill station

. The point is, he remembered,” Sujan recalled.
Besides, they also worked together in the television adaptation of Tagore’s short story, Goyenda. “It was directed by Ramada. He asked me to work with him. It was an amazing experience,” Sujan added.