An Engrossing Tagore Production: Bhabna’s

BHANUDAR SANGEY

For the last two years or more there has been a spate of various productions on the Kolkata stage with Tagore in the focus. Tagore’s 150th year has prompted groups across the state to work out some presentations that would seem a fitting tribute to the Poet. And then there was a big incentive in the form of financial assistance from the central government. So we found all sorts of productions ranging from staging of his plays without any modifications to adapting his stories and letters and other writings to a credible stage version, and then there has been stage shows that break all probity by marauding, plundering and disfiguring the Poet’s creations and also his philosophy in the name of creative interpretation. However, such works luckily have not been very many and are no more seen on the Kolkata stage except one which is worst of the lot and which had a lot of fanfare at its inaugural shows. I had discussed this production in my first blog.

Recently two of the brightest Tagore works were seen in Kolkata that very strikingly shows that creative interpretation for the stage rests solely on the very good understanding of the source material together with the intellectual perspectives that had given birth to the original writings of the Poet, or for that matter any author. Interestingly both the productions are by new groups with young talents at the helm. Ushnik’s KHELA BHANGAR KHELA has been discussed in one of my earlier blogs. Here we will be discussing BHANUDAR SANGEY another very well crafted production by yet another new group, Bhabna, under the direction of Sumitro Bandopadhyay who though is quite a successful playwright in his own right has this production as his maiden directorial venture. And the hint from this presentation that the viewers have received is that he has come to stay in the realm of direction.

As a playwright Sumitro has a very simple communicating language at his command and so his plays get going easily with the viewers. In this play he has tried to juxtapose Tagore during his stay at Shillong in the 20’s of the last century, when the Poet wrote the novel Shesher Kobita and during the time when he penned the epitome of Indian modern play, Rakta Karabi with the present day life system with all its attachments and corollaries. His intrinsic study of Tagore and his works has made him take the viewers in confidence even in situations where Tagore is seen to confront the modern band music or the cell phone and the laptop or for that matter terrorism of the present brand. The viewers get a taste of the typical Santiniketan cultural ambience on one hand and on the other they confront the deleterious effects of the so-called ‘item numbers’ on the young ones. With the very well designed run of the play one confronts Nandini of Rakta Karabi, Labanya of Shesher Kobita as well as Ranu and Indira, the latter though in a different image. 

Sumitro’s creative designing has given the play a particular engrossing visual treat with many a well crafted theatrical moments. But the performance could have been better if Soumik-Piyali’s stage planning had been more imaginative. The construction on the stage had to be compromised as the new Academy stage has many things wanting. However, things could have been better thought of. Music score by Koustuv Sen Barat and choreography by Sangeeta Ghosh were praiseworthy. But all the young members of the group did their roles – and everyone did a number of characters – with full confidence. And that tells a lot about the competence of the director to build up the teamwork.  The veteran thespian Ashok Mukherjee as the Poet was in his usual mettle.

This was one production that the viewers at the end had a feel-good mood – and that is a rare exception these days.