Ever since the Bengal Association came into inception in 1958 in Delhi, Bengali theatre activities have always been a talking point here. Largely patronised by the Banga Sanskriti Bhavan, Gole Market and later Banga Bhavan, Hailey Road (in 1986), Delhi has 22 registered Bengali theatre groups . They can boast a handful of seasoned theatre practitioners like Pratap Sen, Sanat Lahiri, Sunil Ghose, Sidharth Das Gupta, Sisir Bhattacharjee, Biswajit Sinha, Torit Mitra, Sumona Kanjilal and Deepak Guha, etc. and some really dedicated groups like Bikalpa, Baikalik, Aamra Kajon Drama Society, Bangiya Samaj, Aakriti, People’s Theatre Group, Natyarongo, Dhumketu, Navapalli Natya Sanstha, Milani Cultural & Welfare Association, Sansaptak, Swapna Ekhon and others, yet the fact is that Bengali theatre in Delhi is fast losing its lustre, charm and popularity . Auditorium halls are either empty or occupied by family, friends and well wishers of the patrons only. Even old and bonafide audiences are dwindling and they are disillusioned with these productions that are exclusively adapted or translated from either English, French, German or classical Bengali literature of yore and have no resemblance or connection to the present socio-political situations of our society.
“The present scenario of the Bengali Theatre of Delhi is quite peculiar. There has been an inherent and quiet competition between the Bengali theatre of Delhi and that of Kolkata today,” quips veteran director Deepak Guha of Backdrop Theatre Group. Notwithstanding the high standard quality of the Bengali theatre of Kolkata by likes of Rudraprasad, Brattyo Basu, Koushik Sen or Goutam Haldar’s repertoire, the Bengali theatre of Delhi is being underplayed and berated by the migrant Bengali audience of Delhi. Guha informs that a section of Bengali society, particularly those who migrated from Kolkata were never interested to watch any of Bengali productions in Delhi because of their typical ‘status quo’ or elitist mindset that Kolkata is the ultimate source of everything . “But of course, there are some technical aspects which need fine-tuning, which is usually due to scarcity of sufficient funds, lack of institutional support, paucity of manpower, scarcity of theatre halls at reasonable rates, shrinking rehearsal spaces, dearth of theatre technicians and the crooked Amusement Act and above all lack of original scripts, otherwise, Bengali theatre of Delhi is as good as any other language theatre in the country,” affirms noted theatre practitioner Biswajit Sinha of Navapalli Natya Sanstha.
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Today the Bengal Association of Delhi can boast of its own 186-seater auditorium Muktadhara at the prime Gol Market and a huge B.C Pal auditorium in the South Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park but still much efforts are needed to boost up and revitalise the sinking morale of Bengali theatre of Delhi to woo its dwindling audience and win their heart to return to the fold.
Challenges ahead
The road ahead to the Bengali Theatre here in the capital city is a difficult turf ridden with obstacles, impediments and challenges. Sharing his views on the issue, veteran theatre director, Biswajit Sinha of Navapalli Natya Sanstha, borrowing the doyen of theatre in India, Ebrahim Alkazi’s words, says, “The theatre of Delhi is considered as mediocre, amateur, characterless, ill- attended and sporadic.” “In Delhi, nothing happened corresponding to the cultural renaissance of Kolkata or Mumbai,” adds Sinha. Right from the 1950s with Bharatiya Natya Sangh and later the National School of Drama, Hindi theatre began to grow in real sense, but in strictly institutionalised and patronised domain only. “ We must not forget that even in those critical days, it was the Bengali theatre that stood on its own in the heart of the Capital. Some leading theatre groups were used to be invited to perform at the AIFACS hall and Bengali plays were put on boards at various puja pandals at Timarpur and Kashmere Gate areas. But there has never been a theatre movement or say Bengali theatre movement here due to various reasons. Bengali theatre of Kolkata has been the fore-runner on the Delhi stage here. The off- shoots of Kolkata theatre enlightened the uprooted Bengali populace here. Therefore, the Capital’s Bengali theatre owes considerably to the Kolkata stage with a few exceptions. And soon the amateur Bengali theatre declined here in the 90s of the last century,” he further adds.
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On being asked to elaborate the reasons of decline, Sinha says, “Unlike Kolkata, in Delhi, theatre is not a part of people’s life. Secondly, Delhi, being a multi-lingual cosmopolitan city, leaves little space and audience for a vernacular theatre like that of Bengali or Marathi here. Thirdly, we must blame the government apathy as unlike Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Sindhi Academies, there is no Bengali Academy, or a state-owned cultural body to promote the Bengali literature, arts, theatre and culture even after seventy years of the Independence. As far as the Bengali Association is concerned, let me tell you that it is a non-profit making private body only. So in this critical situation the furtherance of theatre activities is difficult here. Without financial assistance, we are handicapped here.”
Road to revival
But in the recent past, while watching many Bengali plays of Nandikars, Bohurupee or People’s Theatre Group from Kolkata at the Bharat Rangmahotsava or Theatre Olympics here in Delhi, some theatre practitioners, including Sinha, feel that Bengali theatre needs to be resuscitated. “We need to enhance our dramaturgy, stagecraft, scripts and overhaul the production value and make our plays audience friendly and all we have to do is with self- grit and determination following the epic message of Tagore, “Eikla chalo re” or “ walk along alone then”, says Sinha whose latest production “Pather Panchali” ran to two housefull shows recently in the B.C. Pal Auditorium, C.R. Park, Delhi and the production travelled to Kolkata to test the indigenous Bengali audience there first at Sovabazaar Naat Mandir and then at Uttam Manch before packed houses with overwhelming responses of the audiences there.
Though we often say, theatre has no language but to make it easily accessible to the wider range of audiences, we should organise multi-lingual theatre festivals and events like in Kolkata. Asit Mukherjee of Choop Katha” did theatre both in Hindi and Bengali with the same cast. “In spite of all odds, including the chronic lack of financial resources, the passion and enthusiasm for theatre here is infectious and surely Bengali theatre will sustain and thrive even with limited resources. And so today Navapally Natya Sanstha, Backdrop Theatre, Aamra Kajon, Sansaptak, Swapno Ekhon and Green Room Theatre are producing some awe-inspiring serious theatre, depicting the mainstream Bengali life and distinct cultural ethos in their plays.