Thakur was born in a barber family on 18 December 1887 in Kutubpur or Qutubpur[12] diyara village of Chhapra.

He also watched "Silema" (Cinema) for the first time and met Babulal, a person from Bihar who used to run a "naach hall".

[21][22] In the early part of the twentieth century, Bhikari Thakur returned to his village and started presenting Ramlila with a small troupe.

[27] He went to Arrah, Ballia, Muzaffarpur, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Jharia and as far as Dibrugarh in Assam to perform.

However, despite his popularity, he also faced disdain for his low caste and for performing Launda Naach by dressing himself in women clothes.

[28] Thakur's plays were so impactful that, There are stories of young girls leaving the mandap and running away instead of docilely marrying the old men their parents have taken money from.

in the movie, Bhikhari Thakur made a special appearance, where he recited his own poem "Dagaria johat na".

[29] In early days, his company used to perform only Ramlila, but later it started staging plays written by himself.

Some notable names are Ramchandra Manjhi (dancer), Mahendra (singer), Ram Lacchan and Juthan were comedians, musicians were Ghinawan (Dholak), Tafzul (Tal), Alijan (Sarangi) and Jagdeo (Harmonium).

[31] Bhikhari Thakur's works were mostly based on the problems of society like the plight of migrants and women, and poverty.

The first part was published in 1979 in which his five plays are compiled namely, Bidesiya, Bhai Birodh, Beti Bechwa, Kaljug Prem and Radheshyam Bahar.

The second part was published in 1986 in which five more plays are there, namely Putra Badh, Gabarghichor, Nanad-Bhaujai, Ganga Asnan and Bidhwa Bilaap.

[33] In Thakur's work there was a hidden protest against the oppressive, feudal, casteist and patriarchal system.

From his play, Beti Bechwa he raises the issue of marriages of young girl with old landlords in the exchange of money.

In Beti Bechwa and Nanad Bhaujai he depicted the life of a young girl; Bhai Birodh, Ganga Asnan and Putra Badh he talked about married women.

For example, in the play Bidesiya, the character of Bidesi represents all the young men who used to go to Assam and Bengal for earning.

His Bidesiya is the blend of religious, secular, Tragedy, Comedy, traditional and modern theatre genre.

He also adopted all the popular Bhojpuri Folk songs genre in his plays like Biraha, Purbi, Kajari, Alha, Fagua, Chaita, Sorathi, Chaubola etc.

[40] For example, in Bidesiya, Pyari is expounding her husband's appearance to Batohi:[41] Kariyā nā gor bāte, lāmā nāhi hawan nāte (17), Majilā jawān sām sundar batohiyā(15)... 𑂍𑂩𑂱𑂨𑂰 𑂢𑂰 𑂏𑂷𑂩 𑂥𑂰𑂞𑂵, 𑂪𑂰𑂧𑂰 𑂢𑂰𑂯𑂱 𑂯𑂫𑂢 𑂢𑂰𑂗𑂵 (१७), 𑂧𑂕𑂱𑂪𑂰 𑂔𑂫𑂰𑂢𑂹 𑂮𑂰𑂧 𑂮𑂳𑂢𑂹𑂠𑂩 𑂥𑂗𑂷𑂯𑂱𑂨𑂰 (१५) The plays and songs of Bhikhari Thakur depict the evils that were corroding the society.

Besides social problems, Thakur has also talked about the separation of joint families in Bhai Birodh and Nanad-Bhaujai.

In Kaljug Prem or Piyawa Nasaïl, he has shown the consequences of drinking and impact on the family.

There are stories of young girls leaving the mandap and running away instead of docilely marrying the old men their parents have taken money from.

After a performance in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, some members of the audience marched to a nearby temple and took an oath that they would stop this practice.