The zealous spirit
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Ace theatre personality Badal Sircar reminisces about the good old days.
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The veteran Badal Sircar.
His voice still echoes inside theatres. At 82, playwright, director and actor Badal Sircar is busy with writing and directing the young generation theatre artistes. His age and two bypass surgeries are no deterrent. He would love to act, he says,
but his health does not permit him to. “To act is to create a different life,” says Badal da, as he is affectionately known.
Communication and activism, without the paraphernalia of the enclosed theatre stage, drove Sudhindra Chandra Sircar to carve a niche for himself as Badal Sircar. It was during the 1970s that he first took up this approach, moving out of the auditoriums to the streets of Kolkata and addressing the audience in a no-frills manner.
It was the era when Shambhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra and Utpal Dutt were doyens of the Indian Bengali theatre stage.
“I started my career with poems. It was in 1956 that I wrote my first play, ‘Solution X’, and then in 1959, ‘Boro Pishi Ma’,” says Badal da. Recently two of his books, “Purono Kushundi” and “Probasher Hijibiji”, which talk about his plays, his experiences and foreign tours hit the market. “ These are published in Kolkata.
Novel style
Born in Kolkata, this Badal da spent many years working as an engineer, and entered the theatre field after obtaining a diploma from abroad. His novel style started a trend in modern Indian theatre, and he became a cult figure.
Inspired by him, theatre artistes came onto the streets, presenting their plays in a simple and vibrant manner. Protest theatre, raising awareness of the burning issues of the time, throve.
In 1961, he came out with his third play, “Ram-Shyam-Jodu” that was based on a Western story.
“I simply Indianised the theme,” recalls the playwright. “The play went on to become more popular and powerful than the first two plays.”
This made him the maestro of a certain kind of theatre, which was popularised throughout India as the Third theatre and the psycho-physical theatre. In 1963, he directed two more plays, which were serious in nature – “Evam Indrajeet” and “Ballabhpur Ki Roopkatha”. With the translation of these street plays, Badal da became known to every theatre person, especially in Hindi.
Message
With the flow came “Kavi Kahini” (1964), “Baki Itihas” (1965), “Trinsh Shatabdi” (1966), “Jdi Ar Akbar” (1966), “Pagla Godha” (1967), “Ant Nai” (1970), “Sagina Mahto” (1970), “Abu Hasain” (1971), “Michhial” (Julus,1974) and others. “Baki Itihas” made him a great playwright, while “Pagla Godha” and “Sari Rat” were love plays.
“My plays carried my message. But I believe that the form and narration would have been different had I written them now,” he muses. Though Badal Da is confined to bed at his Manicktala residence with his two new books for company, he does not regret his condition.
“I still have strong faith on the path I travelled and the way I introduced innovation in the Indian theatre.”
GAUTAM CHATTERJEE
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