EntertainmentPosted at: Jan 10 2026 8:30PM


‘Let’s see if she can do the role’: Madhabi Mukherjee recalls her first tryst with acting as a four year old

Kolkata, Jan 10 (UNI) Veteran actress Madhabi Mukherjee's entry into the world of acting was by a twist of fate, and marked by hesitation.
Recalling her first encounter with the stage, at the 17th edition of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, the 83-year-old actor said she was just four years old when she was asked to step into a play at Sri Rangam Theatre after a child performer fell ill at the last moment. Standing backstage with her mother, she became the last available option. “The prompter looked at me and said, ‘Let’s try her and see,’” she said.
The play was being directed by the formidable Sisir Kumar Bhaduri, whose presence alone was enough to unnerve the child. Too young to understand the weight of the occasion, Mukherjee depended entirely on the prompter for her lines, as she played the role of a small ashram girl in the play 'Sita'. “I was frightened by his face,” she admitted, adding that he left without offering any reaction after the scene.
That silence, she said stayed with her. Yet the brief performance proved decisive. Celebrated actress Prabha Devi noticed the child and persuaded Mukherjee's mother to allow her to join Minerva Theatre, promising to take care of her. Minerva became her world for the next several years, as she grew up watching rehearsals, performances and the everyday discipline of theatre.
Mukherjee first appeared on screen as a child in Premendra Mitra's "Kankantola Light Railway" in 1950. She went on to play her first leading role in Tapan Sinha's "Tonsil" (1956). It was esteemed director Mrinal Sen who gave her the screen name 'Madhabi' during "Baishe Sraban" (1960), cementing her screen persona. (Her actual name was Madhuri). She was eventually recognised with the National Film Award for Best Actress for "Dibaratrir Kabya" (1970).
Surrounded by theatre greats such as Chhabi Biswas and Sarojbala Devi, Mukherjee learnt her craft through close observation rather than formal guidance. "People arrived, people left, plays kept changing, but I stayed on," she underscored.
She spoke of Ritwik Ghatak as intensely gifted and deeply human, a director with a sharp musical sense and a generosity that often exceeded his means. Calm when sober, he became erratic when intoxicated. Once unknowingly keeping her trapped for hours in a bathroom as he sat outside listening to music.
Ghatak never liked losing at chess and would challenge the stronger players when beaten.
Life on set was spartan rice, lentils, potatoes, a single onion, but no one complained. Ghatak gave them something greater than comfort, an uncompromising love for the work itself.
These formative memories are recounted in 'Madhabi's Garden', her memoir recently translated into Bengali by noted translator Arunava Sinha. The book documents not only her celebrated film career but also the lesser-known theatre years that shaped her artistic sensibility.
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