Natyasurya Phani Sarma

Natyasurya Phani Sarma was an eminent theater personality of Assam, who contributed remarkably to Assamese film industry. He was a noted actor, director and playwright of Assam, who took Assamese theater to a different level. Started as a gatekeeper of the women’s gallery of the Ban Stage, he was highly influenced by his father, who was an exponent of drama and a notable actor of Ban Stage theater of Tezpur. He started his acting career in theater and later in Assamese films. He was casted for the first time in the first Assamese film Joymoti by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala in the year 1935.

Phani Sarma was born in the year 1910 in Tezpur to Molan Sarma, an eminent theater personality and Homeswari Devi. He was very young when her mother passed away and he accompanied his father to the Ban stage, which gave him an opportunity to closely observe some of the noted theater artist of that time namely, Prafulla Barua, Indreswar Borthakur, Lalita Mohan Choudhary, etc. This motivated and inspired him to take up acting as a profession. Bolin was his pet name and he became popular among his fans by this name. In the year 1928, he got a chance to work in the drama Rana Pratap, where he played the role of Akbar and this was the beginning of a new chapter of his life. In the year 1930, he joined the Kohinoor theater group, which is the first mobile theatre group of Assam, founded by Natyacharya Brajanath Sarma. He, along with the group travelled from Dhubri to Sadiya, performing dramas, which attracted a horde of spectators.

Brajanath Sarma, with the help of Phani Sarma introduced female actresses for the first time to appear in their drama productions in the year 1931, changing the whole scenario of Assamese theater as it was completely dominated by males. His film career started with the film Joymoti, which was the first Assamese film by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. In the film he played the role of Gathi Hazarika, the bad character of the film and grabbed the attention of several spectators. Owing to his great acting skills, he was casted by Agarwala in his 2nd film Indramalati as well. In the year 1948, together with Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Phani Sarma directed the film Siraj, which was based on a popular short story written by Deshapran Lakshmidhar Sarma. With this film, he gained a lot of popularity even as a director. In the year 1955, he directed the film Piyoli Phukan, where he acted as the protagonist. Apart from his acting both on screen and stage, he also gained a lot of popularity as a playwright owing to the depth of it. His drama Bograj, which is a historical character, gained a lot of accolades. Sonit Kunwari, Karengar Ligiri, Lobhita, etc. are some of the popular dramas written by this great actor, director and playwright.

On the basis of his experiences as an actor he wrote the drama Kiya based on social issues which was a story of an artist who dedicated his life to amuse people. He addressed issues of isolation and corruption in his drama of later period Nag-Pas. In the year 1963, he appeared for the last time in the film Ito Sito Bahuto and in the year 1970, this unparalled actor breathed his last.