Theatre Thespian & Sangeet Natak Akademi Awardee Usha Ganguly Passes Away Due To Cardiac Arrest

This piece of news will come across as heartbreaking for all theatre lovers! Noted theatre personality and matriarch of the popular theatre group, Rangakarmee, Usha Ganguly is no more. Reportedly, she breathed her last after suffering a cardiac arrest on Thursday morning. She was 75.

Usha was one of the famous names in the Hindi theatre circuit in Kolkata. Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, she was a teacher in a college in Kolkata, when she entered the world of theatre as an actor. She became a part of the Sangit Kala Mandir in 1970 and acted in her first play titled Mitti Ki Gadi.

In 1976, she established her own theatre company Rangakarmee, which belted popular plays like Mahabhoj, Rudali, Himmat Mai and others. Under her guidance, Rangakarmee became one of the leading theatre groups in the country. In fact, it became the only Indian theatre group to perform at the Theatre der Welt Festival in Stuttgart in 2005.

She also worked on the script of Ajay Devgn-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's 2014 film Raincoat, which was based on O Henry's The Gift of the Magi.

Usha was conferred with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Direction in 1998. She was also honoured by the West Bengal Government as the best actress for the play Gudia Ghar.

We offer our heartfelt condolences to her family!