Bangladeshi Mime Partha Pratim Majumder Becomes Member of the French Order of Arts and Letters

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(L-R) Portrait of Partha Pratim Majumder
and himself as a mime artiste
Photos courtesy: www.mimepartha.com

The French Ministry of Culture recently awarded the title Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) to the Paris-based Bangladeshi mime artiste Partha Pratim Majumder, reports the Daily Star of Dhaka.

Partha Pratim Majumder, 56, an internationally-known mime and a former student of French mime maestro Marcel Marceau, was humbled by the award. “I am very happy to get the award as it will improve the image of Bangladesh abroad,” he told bdnews24.com.

After his initial 6-year training in Calcutta under Jogesh Dutta, Mr. Majumder introduced the art of mime in Bangladesh in 1974. Since then he has been playing a leading role in developing this art form in the country. He was given 2010 Ekushe Award in Dhaka last year for his unique contribution.

Besides acting in different American, British and Canadian movies and TV films, he acted in the short French film Bhai, Bhai, which won 26 international awards abroad. He acted as a model for advertisements of world-renowned companies like IBM, Nike, Macdonald, Thomson and Western Union. Many people saw his performances in Bangladesh, Germany, France Malaysia and USA.

Partha Pratim Majumder was born in 1954 in an artistic family at Kalachandpara village of Pabna District, Bangladesh. From 1966 to 1972, he received training at the mime academy of Jogesh Dutta in Calcutta. In 1981, he moved to Paris for further study of mime first with Etienne Decroux and, then from 1982 to 1985, at the mime school of Marcel Marceau. Later he joined the touring company of Mr. Marceau and performed in different countries. Once Mr. Marceau said: “Partha has achieved an inspiration which is uniquely his own.”