The 100th birth anniversary of legendary theatre personality Habib Tanvir (1923-2009), whose plays such as Ponga Pandit (Duplicitous Brahman), Charandas Chor (Charan the Thief), Mitti Ki Gaadi (Sudraka’s The Little Clay Cart), and Hirma Ki Amar Kahani (The Immortal Tale of Hirma) earned national and international acclaim, was celebrated recently.
In a session of The Hindu Lit Fest 2024 titled “Recalling Habib Tanvir: Excerpts from the film and a talk”, Sudhanva Deshpande, a theatre director and actor, played a 20-minute clip from his film, Gaon Ke Naon Theatre, Mor Naon Habib (My village is my theatre, my name is Habib). The video showcased how the legendary theatre exponent worked with actors from rural areas to instill authenticity in his plays.
Recollecting the play Charandas Chor, Mr. Deshpande said, “I was fascinated by it. What was even more fascinating were the actors... because I had an image of actors. And these people who were on stage were nothing like that. They looked like rural folk and they were wearing clothes that weren’t fancy at all. The stage didn’t have a big setting and props. They spoke in a language that I didn’t fully understand. And I said, ‘can there be actors like this?’”
Mr. Deshpande recalled how Tanvir went to Mumbai to make a name for himself in the film industry before quitting and moving to Delhi and then to the United Kingdom to study in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
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“When he went to England, he realised that he was being taught what he didn’t want to do. And then he abandons it, rather, travelled in Europe, went to Germany, landed in Berlin, because he wanted to meet Bertolt Brecht. But, then, Brecht had died two weeks ago. He ends up overstaying his welcome in Berlin for six months and watches all of Brecht’s plays. Then, his real journey begins because he gets six actors from rural Chhattisgarh, which was at that time part of Central Provinces and Chhattisgarhi was not recognised as a language. These were folks who couldn’t read or write but they were performing in the theatre form called Nacha [combining music, dance and drama into theatre],” said Mr. Deshpande.
He said that Nacha, unlike many other rural art forms, is remarkable because there was no mythological or religious storytelling.
“It is about everyday life in the village. And these are the plays that they’ve grown up watching, these are the songs they are used to singing. He got six of them, and put them in a professional theatre set-up. Between 1959 to 1973, he struggled and struggled with these actors and finally in 1972-73, he made a breakthrough by making them speak Chhattisgarhi instead of Hindi and not directing their body movement,” he said.
The 20-minute clip that was showcased also showed how defiant but equally respectful Habib was to those who opposed his plays such as Ponga Pandit, which was said to be critical of Hindu gods and rituals.
