LAGAN CHAND by Thealight: a good theatre staged in a good way

 LAGAN CHAND by Thealight: a good theatre staged in a good way (staged on 20 June 2026)

 

On the conclusion of their year-long silver jubilee celebrations Thealight staged their latest play LAGAN CHAND, written by Atanu Sarkar based on a storyline by Prasanta Ghosh at Giris Mancha. Under the able guidance of Atanu, they prefer to stage their stage productions solely for theatre’s sake. They treat theatre as a typical form of art, rather than a didactic tool to teach the masses. The present work, too, is an example of what Shombhu Mitra wanted ‘to stage a good theatre in a good way’.

Lagan is a raddiwala who goes about in his bicycle buying old newspapers and selling them to the scrap dealer, and somehow work out a living for him and his pregnant wife in a shanty. A person advises him to start buying and selling rejected articles instead of old newspapers, as in this trade the profit is more. Lagan starts afresh and in the first shot buys and sells an old harmonium, that fetches him a good profit. Next, he buys an old teakwood bed. But in the meantime, his wife meets with an accident and the child is aborted. To look after his wife Lagan has to stop going out in his trade, thus he faces a crisis. After his wife recuperates he once again goes out with his cycle to buy rejected articles. He meets an old gentleman who has a liking for him. From him he learns that he would be selling off his house as he has disinherited his son who has settled abroad, and would like Lagan and his wife to shift from their shanty and live in the house. He tells he wants to write-off the property to Lagan, in exchange Lagan has to provide space for him to stay in the house. Lagan tells the gentleman that as he deals in rejected articles and things he would agree to the gentleman’s proposal if he is given the rejected paternal love that he used to give to his son.

The sentimentality of the story would certainly attract the viewers. The play has a few loose ends that did not allow it to be fully baked. The section of the person on whose advice he had diversified his business seemed superfluous. So were the bazar scenes and the hospital sequence. Or, for that matter the off-stage situation that was designed with a kid was totally redundant. The concern of the director to provide every member of the group with something to do on the stage, was felt. On the other hand of course, there are a number vey well crafted scenes that Atanu had provided for the spectators. Especially the scenes of Lagan and his wife, or the dream-like sequence of the gentleman imagining his grand daughter in his house. Viewers would have liked to see these sequences a little more elaborated. Atanu should be credited for not having given any patronage to melodrama in his script.

Making the famous ‘Ei duniaye bhai sobi hoye, sobi hoye – Sob sattiy, sob sattiy’, the thematic refrain, Atanu has given his play a surrealistic touch. Such golden oldies have been used by the playmaker, that transports the audience to the pre-mall times of old Kolkata. He has kept his stage abstract, perhaps keeping to the theme of the drama. Adrish Kumar Roy has done the stage, his work with the poster is commendable. Soumen Chakraborty’s lights were good but here too, we find the design fails to avoid smoke. Background score is designed by the playmaker and has been implemented by Samson Mathur Chakraborty.

Apart from Shampa Das Sarkar in the role of the wife and Shanku Kumar Das’s Lagan, no one else could impress in their works. Shampa has once again exhibited her talent with her expressions and gestures though having a very limited stage-time. Shanku had to bear a lot of weight as Lagan, and skillfully he could express the different moods of the character. Others especially Soutindrakrishna Deb as the gentleman, and Sukumar Das as the person who advised Lagan to diversify, were mechanical in their dialogues and expressions. Little Alankrita Sarkar was easy, fluent and had no inhibition in her work.

 

Rangalok’s CORNER PLOT will be my next play for discussion.