Omkar Das Manikpuri

Manikpuri was born and brought up in a village near Bhilai in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh where he attended school until fifth grade when the death of his father forced him to join a village folk-theatre troupe, mandali. He shifted to Brindanagar (Ward No. 20) in Bhilai in 1981.[3][4]

Manikpuri started his career at the age of 17, as a performer in the local form of folk theatre called Nacha and joined an itinerant village theatre group.[1] Performing often in makeshift and open air stages, he performed as a singer, dancer, mimic and a stand-up comic. Later he joined Naya Theatre which was founded by Habib Tanvir in Bhopal. With the Naya Theatre he has performed, in India and abroad, classics such as Agra Bazaar, Charandas Chor, Kamdev ka Apna Basant Ritu ka Sapna and Sadak.[4][5] It was during a performance of the popular play Charandas Chor in Bhopal, that he was noticed by Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui, the co-directors of the film, which led to him auditioning for the film in Bhopal.[4]

In 2010, Manikpuri made his film debut in Bollywood with Aamir Khan productions' Peepli Live, in which he played the lead.[2] Initially he had auditioned for the minor role of Machua, but later was given the lead of Natha, which was till then reportedly to be played by Aamir Khan.[6] In 2014, he performed in Ebn-E-Batuta, directed by Varun Middha.[7] Beginning in 2015, he played Jagannath in the television series Santoshi Maa. In 2017, he performed in the Rajasthani language film Taawdo The Sunlight, he also acted in bollywood film Newton. In 2019, he acted in the Malayalam film Unda alongside Mammootty.[8]

In 2023 released Red Chillies Entertainments' (Atlee directorial and Shah Rukh Khan starrer) Jawan, Manikpuri delivered a heartbreaking and unforgettable performance as Leher Khan's father, a Dalit farmer and a loving father who is driven to despair by the burdens of debt and poverty and ultimately hangs himself to aid his daughter's education through the suicide-compensation amount provided by the government. His performance was critically acclaimed by the audience as well as the critics and is still considered as one of the major highlights of the film, adding an emotional depth to the story.

Manikpuri's seven-member family lives in Bhilai's Brindanagar area (Ward no. 20).[4][5]

• Omkar Das Manikpuri at Sundance Film Festival

• Omkar Das Manikpuri at IMDb
• Interview – Omkar Das Manikpuri (Natha)