On our first meeting, I failed to fathom the real reason for respected Sri Umapada Paul’s only son, Sri Debkumar Paul, residing in Howrah, to choose Mime as an artistic vocation. He underwent regular training under me as an ardent disciple of mime; one day, in one of my body-mime classes, he was asked why he was attracted to mime. I was hugely impressed by his answer: “In our country of multitudinous languages, it shall be easier for me to express myself through mime and reach my thoughts to others”. The language was never a barrier for him. His eloquent body language has explored many stories, vibrant opinions, and diverse philosophies. Today, that self-same Debkumar has taken the art of mime to greater heights and has traveled all over the country and worldwide. At present, he is probing into the power and versatility of the art of mime as a powerful medium to explore the multifarious fields of art, like, Theatre, Cinema, Poetry, etc. My blessings are with him and his work— may all his passionate endeavors succeed and be accepted as profound art.
Deb Kumar Paul attended the Circomedia course in Contemporary Circus and Physical Performance over twenty years ago but I still remember the way this brilliant physical performer could mime the movements of the natural world with great delicacy and charm.
Deb Kumar Paul from West Bengal is an eminent Mime Artist, trained by Sri Jogesh Dutta, is known me for the last seven years. He is a nationally and internationally acclaimed mime artiste. He performed in the 3rd National Mime Festival of Mime Academy in 2016 at Guwahati. His performance has enthralled the audience of Guwahati. Experimentation with the language of Mime was notable in his performance. I consider him a perfect legacy of Sri Jogesh Dutta.
I have known Deb Kumar for more than thirty years now, first as a student, and then as a creative collaborator in Mime. Perhaps the most accomplished Mime artiste of his time, he has elevated Indian Mime from the level of populist comedy feature to the level of imaginative interpretation of life and experience. His Mime troupe Embody has already established itself as the leading Mime performance team in West Bengal and has significantly contributed to the development of modern Mime in India.
Deb Kumar Paul is a master in the art of mime. We, at the RANG
VIDUSHAK theatre organization in Bhopal, has had the pleasure and
the privilege of having him over as a visiting faculty member to train our
actor–vidushaks during the mid–1990s. His sense of movement,
grace and of course, the acts of mime remain etched in the minds of
those watching him.
I wish you all the very best Deb!
It has been a pleasure to know Shri Deb Kumar Paul, a noted minister. I have watched Deb Kumar training Nandikar's young brigade of varying age group; the ease with which he befriends the young one's is astonishing. Again, when Deb Kumar presides over the adult trainees, he is Stern and a no-nonsense mentor --- strict on discipline and emphatic in creativity. I, as the senior member of Nandikar, and my associates all feel comfortable with Deb Kumar Paul as one of the major mentors of Nandikar's Training Programme. May the bond between Nandikar and Deb Kumar continue to flourish so that our trainees know their bodies and the art of using their body beautifully.
Deb Kumar Paul, known as Debu, is an incredible Mime Artist and
Choreographer of West Bengal. He is a multiple talent. Not only
Mime, has shown his talent in making Music, Multimedia and
sound editing. A fabulous Aerial artist. In fact, he has shown his
talent in many of my productions produced by Rangasram of
Berhampore, West Bengal. I consider him a genius of theatre. He has
taken classes in NSD, Delhi, NSD Sikkim, BNA Lucknow, and Tripura.
I wish him all the success in his creative life.
Deb Kumar Pal has been known to me as a prominent mime artist for
the past two decades or more. several times he had performed in our
national mime festival. I had several opportunities to witness his
performance with his troupe EMBODY at our National Mime Festival,
which was enthralled and highly acclaimed by the audience.
I am very optimistic about his hard work and creativity.
I wish him all the success in life.
শ্রদ্ধেয় উমাপদ পাল-এর একমাত্র পুত্র, হাওড়া নিবাসী শ্রীমান দেব কুমার পাল, কেন যে নিজেকে মূকাভিনয় শিল্পের সঙ্গে নিজেকে জড়িয়ে ফেলল প্রথম সাক্ষাতে সেটা বুঝতে পারিনি। সে আমার কাছে নিয়ত অভ্যাস করছে মূকাভিনয়; একদিন আমার শরীর ভাষ্য ক্লাসে তাকে জিজ্ঞেস করা হইয়েছিল - মূকাভিনয় শিল্পে আকৃষ্ট হবার কারণ। ‘‘আমাদের এই বহুভাষিক দেশে একমাত্র মূকাভিনয়ই পারে আমার ভাবনা সবার কাছে পৌঁছে দিতে’’ – তার এই উত্তর আমাকে মুগ্ধ করেছিল। ভাষা তার কাছে বাধা হয়ে আসেনি কখনও। সে সেই শরীরীভাষ নিয়ে ছুঁয়েছে বহু কাহিনী, বিবিধ মতামত। আজ সেই দেব কুমার এ দেশ তথা বিদেশেও মূকাভিনয় শিল্পকে উন্নতস্থরে পৌঁছে দিয়েছে। নাট্যে, চলচ্চিত্রে, কাব্য সহযোগে অথবা মিশ্রিত মাধ্যমে । বর্তমানে দেব কুমার তার শিল্প কে এক অনন্য মাধ্যম হিসেবে গবেষনা মূলক কাজে নিযুক্ত রাখার প্রয়াসে ব্রতী। আমি আশীর্বাদ করি -তার কর্মকাণ্ড মান্যতা পাক ও সর্বাঙ্গীন সাফল্য আসুক।
Mr Deb Kumar Paul has been known to me for the last fifteen years as a dedicated Mime Movement Artist,
theatre director and educator. I have known him well and thoroughly vouch for his traits and abilities.
During this period, he worked with renowned directors as an actor, mime artist and production designer in
several good productions. Later, he developed as one of the major Mime, nonverbal theatrical movements and
aerial movements artists of South Asia. His abilities as a creative choreographer took him
internationally.
Mr Paul’s acting/design abilities are truly impressive, and he attends to every detail, no matter how
minute it may be. In his works often, I have seen him altering the look of the space, giving the arena a
different perspective and, above all, sculpting the vertical space with poles and surreal body parts. He
had constructed the performance text mainly through the performers' physicality, Mime interventions and
visualisation of the narrative, keeping in view today’s digital generation constantly exposed to visuals
and current context. Mr Paul has a priority towards visual language rather than text alone.
He has developed through object and action as a core performance language instead of using the word as a
primary source of communication.
Besides being a theatre teacher of extraordinary calibre, I also see him as an excellent performer and
Play Director. He is also a great mentor to young theatre aspirants.
I can authoritatively say that Mr Deb Kumar Paul is an all-rounder to the core. He is an asset in
international theatre in general and Indian theatre in particular.
Deb Kumar Pal has contributed significantly to contemporary Bengali proscenium theatre. A mime practitioner of high caliber, he has collaborated with leading directors like Sandip Bhattacharya and Biplab Bandyopadhyay, helping them dynamize the proscenium arena, adding to the overall scenography. One must laud his power of imagination in negotiating with the aerial aesthetics of theatre.