Bhikhari Thakur Birth Anniversary: All you need to know about 'Shakespeare from Bihar'

Bhikari Thakur was an Indian poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, singer-songwriter, and social activist who penned his creativity in the Bhojpuri language. He is recognised as one of Bhojpuri literature's greatest contributors and the most well-known folk writer of Purvanchal and Bihar.

The Bihar-based talent was born and raised in Kutubpur village of Saran. As he grew up, he was married to Matuna from whom a son named Shilanath Thakur was born. In the early 1900s, the artiste started began his career with the talents he possessed and remained active until his death in 1971. He published most of his works between 1938 and 1962.

Thakur wrote more than a dozen plays and of those, Monologues, Poems, and Bhajans appeared in print as nearly three dozen books. Some of his noteworthy works include Bidesiya, Gabarghichor, Beti Bechwa and Bhai Birodh, Gabarghichor is often compared with Bertolt Brecht's play The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Apart from his flair for writing, his passion for acting makes him remembered by people as the father of the naach folk theatre tradition. As you may know that in those days not everyone considered acting a good ground, and females being less exposed to the arena, Thakur began casting males in female roles. He is credited as the first person to cast male actors in female roles.