Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Many nights since they came and went to dark their day has
Gone,
these rustic poets, village clowns, each one
1
will they return in the dark night again?
The history of Bengali theatre is also a history of the proscenium stage, the
absence of the Body and the presence of the intangible Mind. Bengali theatre has tottered
time and again not only for want of quality texts2 and favourable social conditions but for
1
Jibanananda Das, Song of Leisure, Naked Lonely Hand, trans. Joe Winter (Kolkata: Meteor Books,
2004), p. 39. (Original title: Abasarer Gan in Dhusar Pandulipi)
2
The renowned scholar Sunitikumar Chattopadhyay reasoned that in the history of Bengali drama we
have seen very few books of high quality; I think Bengali literature did not benefit as much from the plays
its addiction to a fixed ideawith occasional exceptionsof public performances which
revolved around the proscenium stage, and a vague mind unable to establish a direct
communication between the people (the audience or reality) and the re-produced, made-
up, make-believe, fake reality of the stage.3 Having seen the customs of the colonizers
and considering them progressive in character, the colonized mind immediately took to
the ritual of staging and the succeeding procedures. To the average educated urban
Bengali the proscenium stage became a fixed object of obsession around which their
thoughts of performance evolved. That was why dramatic performance and proscenium
staging became almost habitual and synonymous, at first, in the amateur or private
theatres and, subsequently, the public theatres of nineteenth-century Bengal. It was one of
the many practices that the Bengali inherited from the British and painfully struggled to
improve on.
Leaving aside productions by the English, only the rich and the influential
Bengalis could organize and enjoy such costly theatrical events during the early colonial
period. Most of them were either zamindars, rajas or servants of high rank in the British
employ. The ordinary people had no access to these private affairs. When the commercial
public theatre was first established in Kolkata in 1872 all people were allowed to enter by
as it did from poetry and novels. (Introduction to Ajit Kumar Ghosh, Bangla Nataker Itihas; Kolkata:
General Printers and Publishers, 1999; translation mine.) However, it can be argued that he represents the
old generation of pundits who expected high literary sophistication from drama, treating it as literature
foremost, rather than theatre.
In literary historian Asutosh Bhattacharyas opinion, Bengali sentimentalism and romanticism are
two key obstructive factors in the plays. Besides, different aspects of economic crises were also missing.
(Bangla Natyasahityer Itihas 1852-1952, Kolkata: A. Mukherji and Co. Ltd., 1955, pp. 11, 15.) That is why
many critics have pointed out reasonably that the need for plays was met with typical mythological and
historical ones. For the absence of economic issues in their plays the playwrights only cannot be blamed;
the social and political situations of Bengal were also not favourable during the colonial period.
3
In his books Badal Sircar writes at length that in stage performances a direct communication can never be
established because of the theatrical illusions and the distance between the spectator and the spectacle on
stage.
2
buying tickets. Even though the ticketing system was as old as the first proscenium
production in Bengali (1795), it was the commercial public theatre which opened its door
to the previously debarred sections. Nevertheless, those who could not afford it still
remained outside its gamut because the socio-economic conditions of Bengal as a whole
could never support such a bourgeois medium of popular culture.4 This is one of the
Instead, a very strong tradition of folk culture was at hand, though, unfortunately,
this de-myth5ic culture could not draw the attention of the educated, sophisticated city
dweller. Ironically, it is now appropriated to suit our tastes whenever necessary,6 but
historically, the folk traditions have always been of little importance to urban Bengali
theatre practices, which privileged the preferences of the upper and middle classes.
4
In this essay peoples/popular/folk culture have been used to connote the cultural practice of the common,
uneducated class. Regarding popular, Kathryn Hansen wrote: The designation popular theatre,
however, introduces a new set of ambiguities. Its possible meanings include well liked and of the
people, as opposed to an established power or government. In the second sense, popular theatre is
applied to cultural/educational activities in which the popular classes present and critique their own
understanding of the world in relation to a broader aim of structural transformation. People's theatre or
popular theatre in this sense is usually aligned with progressive political parties or third-world development
programs. In the former usage, popular may refer to any commercially successful endeavor, often in an
urban industrialized context, and has a more pejorative connotation. In addition, popular theatre may be
construed as a practice within popular culture, meaning the culture of everyday life unbounded by class or
social group. Grounds for Play: The Nautanki Theatre of North India (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1992), pp. 42-43.
5
From Roland Barthes Myth Today in A Roland Barthes Reader, ed. Susan Sontag (London: Vintage,
2000), pp. 93-149.
6
We should begin by studying peasant culture and its relevance to us: to deny it is to perpetuate Croces
attitude, which relegates it to folklore. Its also a mistake to deny it because capitalism has taken
advantage of it and made it commercial: what goes unnoticed is that the bourgeoisie has picked up only
its surface aspects. Without plumbing the depths of this culture, or even when it does, it talks about an
archaic peasant pre-culture, a mythical culture of the peoples religious spirit, seen as an object of
archaeological research. Dario Fo, From Retrieving the Past, Exposing the Present, Twentieth Century
Theatre: A Sourcebook, ed. Richard Drain (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), p. 204.
3
forced the early native entrepreneurs of theatre to explore the classical Sanskrit literary
texts,7 symbolizing the monarchical and brahmanical hierarchy, for their source material.
But contrary to the popular belief, neither the principles of Sanskrit plays nor the popular
cultural practices had much influence on the formation and development of modern
Bengali theatre. It was rather a direct result of the British educational system and the new
elements of the proscenium stage, which later even penetrated the inner structure of
native genres like Jatra and destroyed their individuality.8 As a matter of fact, the socio-
cultural languages of the poor and common people had no place in the coterie of an
opportunist class born out of colonial governance. In other words, the history of urban
Bengali theatre is a history of exclusion (of a large section of the people) and disdain (for
the indigenous popular culture) by the aristocracy and the impressionable bourgeois
citizenry. We need to examine the history of this urban-rural divide in terms of theatrical
In August 1826 an editorial essay came out in the The Asiatic Journal which in
the following words upheld the necessity for a Bengali theatre in British style:
amusement has not yet been consulted, and they have not,
7
Asutosh Bhattacharya, Bangla Natyasahityer Itihas, p. 3.
8
Ibid., p. 39.
4
attached to the courts of the princes of India, who
After a gap of forty-one years Nabaprabandha, a periodical, wrote under the title of
Natakabhinay:
acting-skill.10
These two editorial pieces were unequivocally concerned for all classes of society on
9
Brajendra Nath Banerjee, Bengali Stage 1795-1873, (Calcutta: Ranjan Publishing House, 1943), p. 7.
This paragraph was translated from the original Bengali text in Samachar Chandrika and published in The
Asiatic Journal in August 1826.
10
Natakabhinay, Nabaprabandha, August 1867, p. 100 (translation mine).
5
but of course on the basis of a competitive marketall of which were considered noble
whereas Jatrawallas (the people associated with Jatra) were considered as ignoble
tradesmen and filthy elements of society, even by someone of the stature of Bankim
Chandra Chattopadhyay.11
In keeping with the trend of society, Taracharan merely took a story from the Bengali
version of the Mahabharata by Kasiram Das as the source material but his principal
11
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bangalar Nabya Lekhakdiger Prati Nibedan, Bankim Rachanabali,
ed. Jogesh Chandra Bagal, vol. 2 (Kolkata: Sahitya Samsad, 1954), p. 237.
12
Asutosh Bhattacharya, Bangla Natyasahityer Itihas, p. 49 (translation and emphasis mine).
6
The trajectory of the art of acting in Bengal before the English influence had
developed chiefly around the popular religious beliefs and had little connection with the
courts of the princes. Rather, the mobility of itinerant players kept every kind of
performance alive, be it the presentation of songs, lectures, stories or Jatras. The reasons
may be defined thus: a fixed place brings exclusivity into the economics of performance,
which can be avoided by travelling from place to place; moreover it was the best possible
means to divulge ones ideas to the farthest corners at a time when there was no media.
The proscenium theatre made performance an exclusive and enclosed affair. But the
adulation and hunger for the European (English) style and contempt for the prevalent
native popular culture had gone so far that the anonymous writer of Sambandha-Samadhi
Natak (1867) dared to express his distaste for Vedic (Brahmanical) rituals.13 Admittedly,
the Bengali plays of this period also bore some feeble elements and styles of Vaishnava
Padavali (poems on Lord Krishna and Radha), Gauriya Vaishnavism (the cult of Krishna
worship in Bengal), Mangal Kavya (long poems on local gods), Panchali (a class of
poems, usually sung in devotion, celebrating the glory of a deity), the Ramayana (by
Krittibas Ojha), the Mahabharata (by Kasiram Das), Kavigan or Kabigan (poetic recitals)
and Jatra. The reasons for using such elements were never to glorify the cultural heritage
nor to be independent by the right of what was handed down for centuries; many of these
elements became unavoidable because of their widespread popularity in the lower strata
of society. For example, Sukumar Sen thinks that the usage of songs (though not their
13
Sukumar Sen, Bangla Sahityer Itihas, vol. 3 (Kolkata: Ananda Publishers Private Limited, 1979), p.
105. Sen thinks that the writer must have been a Vedic Brahman; that was why he did not reveal his name
for fear of society.
7
essence) in Bengali drama was a direct result of the same in the old Jatra.14 Girish
Chandra Ghosh, according to critics like Himani Bannerji and Utpal Dutt, was the
from Shakespeare (whose work he translated and directed in Bengali), 19th century
melodramas and the indigenous jatra form.15 Utpal Dutt is fascinated by the idea that
But such compulsions (usage of songs) and exceptions (Girish Ghosh) do not
stage, states, Old Jatra has no connection with the Bengali drama.17 As a matter of
fact, the Bengali drama did not grow out of the Bengali yatra, nor did the demand for a
new kind of theatre come from the class which, as a rule, patronized yatras.18 These
comments precisely indicate that The origin of the Bengali stage is to be sought in the
desire for newer and less archaic amusements felt by a generation, which had received a
14
Ibid., p. 142.
15
Himani Bannerji, The Mirror of Class: Essays on Bengali Theatre (Calcutta: Papyrus, 1998), p. 190.
16
Quoted by Bannerji, ibid., p. 193.
17
Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, Bangiya Natyasalar Itihas: 1795-1876 (Kolkata: Bangiya Sahitya-
Parishat, 1998), p. 19 (translation mine).
18
Brajendra Nath Banerjee, Bengali Stage, pp. 6-7. [yatra= Jatra]
8
good English education. The more well-to-do among them went to the English play-
houses of Calcutta.19
Karl Marx, on the other hand, offered incisive observations on the formation of
the educated class of Calcutta. To his understanding, in 1853, the British rule was
composed of binary historical aspects: one destructive, the other regenerating.20 The
Occident was imported while the mission of annihilating the old Asiatic society was
achieved gradually and simultaneously by England.21 In doing so, the political unity of
the country was strengthened and perpetuated by the introduction of electric telegraph;
defence mechanisms bolstered by the native army; a relatively free press introduced for
the first time into Asiatic society, and managed principally by the common offspring of
Hindus and Europeans, is a new and powerful agent of reconstruction22; the inception of
private property in land; limited access to Western education system; the railways and
steam transport.23 These were some of the necessary preconditions for the creation of an
Indian bourgeoisie coming out of an education system that principally served the
purposes of the colonizers. Marx rightly pointed out, From the Indian natives,
class is springing up, endowed with the requirements for government and imbued with
19
Ibid., p. 7.
20
Karl Marx, The Future Results of the British Rule in India, On Colonialism (Moscow: Foreign
Languages Publishing House), p. 84, http://www.scribd.com/doc/31107370/On-Colonialism-CARL-
MARX (accessed 9 November 2011).
21
Ibid.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid., pp. 84-85.
9
European science.24 This was not typical of Calcutta only. In a slightly different context,
Marx and Frederick Engels discussed in Manifesto of the Communist Party how the
general. If the precondition for the creation of an educated class in Calcutta is collated
with the conditions for penetration of the bourgeoisie in any land, their observation nicely
fits in this analysis and we can have a better understanding of why a generation born of
an educated class of patrons and playwrights of private and public theatres in Calcutta
cleverly adopted singing and dancing habits of the inferior performances in order to
gain popularity and not to lose audiences,25 but at heart fell prostrate in worship of the
English plays. One prominent reason for such servitude was hidden in an idea of one of
the most servile tools of English despotism26 that European, especially English, plays
(and those written in imitation) would improve the social standards and help to get rid of
backward forms like Jatra,27 Kabigan, Panchali, Tarja and Half-Akhrai. The other
24
Ibid., p. 84.
25
Darshan Chaudhuri, Bangla Theatre-er Itihas (Kolkata: Pustak Bipani, 1995), p. 4.
26
Karl Marx, The East India Question, On Colonialism, pp. 74-75. Marx used the phrase for the Indian
princes, for whom he did not harbour any particular sympathy. Here it has been used to designate the
educated bhadralok class of nineteenth-century Bengal.
27
Bhudeb Chaudhuri, Bangla Sahityer Itikatha, vol. 2 (Kolkata: Deys Publishing, 1984), pp.165-166.
10
national industries have been destroyed or are daily being
11
introduce what it calls civilisation into their midst, i.e., to
Jatra29
exclusionary politics. The only interesting thing that demands attention is that they, being
subjected to the British eliminatory contrivance, also exercised the same trickery on their
fellow citizens politically, socially and culturally. A classic example in this connection is
Mitra wrote,
28
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party (Kolkata: National Book Agency,
1993), pp. 37-38. The publishers note says that this English edition was a reproduction of the translation
made by Samuel Moore in 1888 from the original German text of 1848 and edited by Frederick Engels.
29
Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, Bangiya Natyasalar Itihas, p. 17-18 (translation mine).
12
sympathetic person is filled with sorrow considering their
true plays are being enacted for the past four years. May
As a result of such theatrical selectiveness and relentless publicity not only were
the indigenous qualities flushed out, but in some cases they were transformed by the
a genre similar to opera. Though Sukumar Sen and many other critics33 emphasized this
form as nutan (new) Jatra, the following passages would help us understand that this new
type of public performance was received in a different light altogether, and as anything
30
Quoted by Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, pp. 17-18 (translation mine).
31
Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, p. 19 (translation mine).
32
Gitabhinay was composed of songs derived from Krishna Jatra, dance from natun (new) Jatra, dialogues
and dramatic conflict/tension from contemporary proscenium plays. See Darshan Chaudhuri, p. 20.
33
Hitherto, the Gitabhinays which have been put on like opera are nothing but Jatra. Maddhyastha, 5th
& 6 issue, 4th part, Bhadra & Ashwin 1282 (1875), p. 117.
th
13
accepted after its inception as a sign of relief from the degenerate Jatra. On 22 May
once, and we must say that it did credit to those who were
degenerate JATRA.34
alien practice permeated all levels of society. To ensure the stability and permanence of a
colonial culture, it was always the best policy to attack and criticize the other system
with a tone of sympathy in order to (i) project the very act of criticism as a caring and
humane undertaking to educate the illiterate and uncivilized subjects, (ii) benefit not
34
Quoted by Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, p. 81.
35
Ibid., p. 80 (translation mine).
14
just the writer/critic, but the whole communityhere the writer/critic assumes the role of
the saviour and his criticism, a pious dutyand (iii) suppress the vested interests of the
class to which the writer belongs. Therefore, on account of alleged poor standards of
performance, Jatra, Kabigan36 and Panchali had been subjected to severe criticism by the
Bengali intellectuals and newspapers. If they had problems with the standards of
performance and the content of Jatra, the critics might have advised the organizers to
look back at past productions or even contemporary ones which were not as corrupt.37
More than anything else the critics of contemporary Jatra were concerned with an
imported idea of purity of their society. The over-emphasized body and its freedom in
indigenous culture became objectionable to these moral police. The texts giving
importance to carnal pleasure were rejected. The quality of events was judged by the
social standards of the performers. In most of the cases they were performed by
36
Sushil Kumar De comments, The Kabi-poetry, however, has been subjected to an amount of harsh and
even contemptuous criticism which it hardly ever deserved. The Reforming Young Bengal of the forties
considered all forms of popular amusementsKabi, Yatra or Pamchalito be contemptible. We shall see
that had gradually come into Kabi-songs elements which were really contemptible; but what strikes one in
the study of these popular forms of literature is that throughout the 19th century, with the exception of Isvar
Gupta and a few isolated appreciators of things ancient, the so-called educated men of that century hardly
ever cared to make a sympathetic study, much less to realise their literary or historical importance. Even to-
day they do not seem to have received their due amount of attention or appreciation. But in spite of the
apparent uncertainty of critical determination, the historical importance of these songs, apart from all
question of artistic valuation, cannot surely be denied. The old Kabi-literature does not require an apologist
to-day but it stands upon its own inherent claim to be treated in an historical survey of Bengali literature of
this century. Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century: 1757-1857 (Calcutta: Firma K.L.
Mukhopadhyay, 1962), p. 274.
37
Hemendra Nath Das Gupta writes, When Calcutta and its adjacent places were full of erotic songs and
sentiments of Vidya Sundara, East Bengal was then resounding with the sweet notes of Krishna Lila. ... In
Dacca there was no dearth of Jatra or Kavi. The Indian Theatre (Delhi: Gian Publishing House, 1988), p.
139. Maddhyastha (op. cit., p. 117) wrote, Our Kaliyadaman, i.e. Krishnajatra is not an ordinary musical
dramawhat Paramananda, Govinda and Badan had done... the way they had amused and made the
audience weep, had set them adrift and caused to sink in different Rasaswill not happen again; the
flawless musical drama of these songs can never achieve that... (translation mine).
15
prostitutes or actors from the lower classes, which were considered to be abusive to
wine.38
the editorial policies of other dailies of the time. In a letter to Maddhyastha (7 December
sarcasm, We were not deprived of dance, fun and jest of the Bhistis, lest we forget the
Bengalis.
38
Natakabhinay, Nabaprabandha, August 1868, p. 100 (translation mine).
39
Quoted by Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, p. 83 (translation mine).
16
Of the execrable representations, called Jtrs, we
from the commencement to the fifth act. The plots are very
barkings of the dogs that bay the moon, are harmony itself
the hands and feet, dignified with the name of dancing, they
and cracks a few stupid jest which set the audience in a roar
17
of laughter; and his brother Bhulu who, completely
feet.40
With regard to the vehemently expressed obscenity of language, such comments only
added to the share the newspapers had in propagating the idea of social filth. As of now,
let us return to the public theatre which is believed to have democratized the proscenium
theatre. It brought other elements that also characterize a democratic process: disbelief,
at the prospect of the good fortune called the audience.41 To cut a long story short, after
the money came the disputes and then there were disruptions all over.42 A number of
eminent theatre personalities of that period have stated that owing to financial disputes
the National Theatre fell apart43 and subsequently two groups were formed: National
Theatre and Hindu National Theatre, which merged again in 1874.44 Before the end of the
year, due to financial reasons, serious internal disagreement surfaced once more, never to
40
Horatio Smith, Festivals, Games, and Amusements; Ancient and Modern, Calcutta Review, vol. 15,
1851, pp. 348-349.
41
Darshan Chaudhuri, p. 3 (translation mine).
42
On 26 January 1873 a letter was published in the Indian Mirror: Sir, Owing to a long existing ill-
feeling among the members of the National Theatrical Society a disagreement has arisen amongst them.
The cause of this faction, as the Secretary of the Society announces, is the failure on the part of the
Treasurer to render the accounts. The other party ascribes the cause of this faction to some shortcoming on
the part of the SecretaryBelieve me, yours truly BROJENDRA NATH BANERJEE. (Brajendranath
Bandyopadhyay, Bangiya Natyasalar Itihas, p. 122.) On 21 February 1873 another letter came out in the
same newspaper stating Sir, Now the rupture among the members of the National Theatrical Society
has, happily, come to a close. Selfishness, distrust, dictatorial tone and unwillingness to cringe are some of
the causes which gave rise to it. The three directors of the Theatre now are the Editor of the AMRITA
BAZAR POTRICA, Babu G. C. Ghose, & another Native gentleman. A FRIEND TO THE NATIONAL
THEATRE. (Ibid., p. 124)
43
Ibid., pp. 130-132.
44
Ibid., p. 162.
18
be healed.45 One of the vices for which Jatra had been sneered at oozed into the
When the National Theatre was going through such dramatic ups and downs
prostitutes, in public theatre. Prior to that, female roles were played by male actors,
though Lebedeff had cast women in 1795. The reason for introducing prostitutes was the
unavailability of actresses of respectable birth. But this novelty was not appreciated at all,
for social outcasts could not be given entry into bhadralok society. On 18 August 1873
In its review of the same play the Bharat Sanskarak wrote on 22 August:
45
Ibid., pp. 179-180.
46
Ibid., p. 149.
19
open with the distinguished dignitaries of noble birth. It is
your dignity.47
country.48
cast out of the society and have gone astray from the
47
Samvadavali: Kalikata o Bangadesh, Bharat Sanskarak, Part 1, Issue 19, 22 August 1873, p. 225.
48
Amrita Bazar Patrika, 20 February 1873, p. 14.
20
single person [those who frequent theatre halls] the loss can
The Maddhyastha also voiced a prolonged sarcastic accusation that all hell might break
loose by the association of those wicked women.50 The women of the town were
subjected to undeserving, merciless, acerbic criticism without even taking their behaviour
during rehearsals into account. Amritalal Basus description of the prostitutes work ethic
surely throws the Bengali aristocratic and editorial agenda which gave birth to the
The salary was very low then, yet five actresses came to us.
The clash of interest of two classes was heightened when the sophisticated, elite Bengali
theatres also encouraged the free mixing of men and women in their performances, which
49
Kalikatar Rangabhumi, Amrita Bazar Patrika, 15 January 1874, p. 391.
50
Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, Bangiya Natyasalar Itihas, p. 150.
51
Quoted by Brajendranath Bandyopadhyay, p. 243 (translation mine).
21
had already entered Jatra performances.52 Such wantonness was even compared with
Performances Act was imposed by the English in 1876. Although an exception, Bharat
country.53
Jatra was repudiated time and again on account of obscenity and poor quality of
texts and performances. What was this so-called obscenity or poor quality? Their origin,
in this politics of deprivation and suppression, will lead to chiefly one text that was
singled out for malicious criticism by almost all the critics: Vidya-Sundar, through which
With the rise of Calcutta as a business centre of the British East India Company
people came from far off and began to mix with the local inhabitants; soon they
developed the habit of, among other things, frequenting the quarters of Baijis54 (women
who sang and danced in front of men; they were free to choose sexual partners from
among them). Rabindranath Tagore took the view that in the evenings the merchants,
weary of daylong work, wanted the excitement of temporary amusement, not the essence
of literature.55 Naturally, Khola and Nupurs gave place to Tobla and ghunghur. The old
Vaishnaba lyric and songs (Mahajani Padas) were replaced by newly composed songs.
52
Ibid., Natyasala Smashanbidhi, Bharat Sanskarak, 3 March 1876, p. 425.
53
Ibid. p. 425 & Samvadavali, p. 431.
54
Das Gupta, p. 122.
55
Rabindranath Tagore, Kabi-Sangeet, Rabindra Rachanabali, vol. 6 (Kolkata: Visvabharati, 1940), p.
632.
22
They were set to new songs and the upcountry tune of the tappas was gone.56 So, in
course of time the divine love stories of Radha and Krishna were replaced by the
mundane, carnal amour of ordinary men and women like Vidya and Sundar and the
activities of Malini, their go-between. The sensual story of Vidya and Sundar relied
heavily on mushy Bengali sentiment; their sexuality, and the overt presence of the body
aristocracy and the newspapers, which vilified it in very strong language, ironically
honoured!57
that the sexuality was rooted in the Islamic rule over India, which led to the ruin of
them. The Mohomedans were without any national theatre and it received no tangible
support from them.58 From the following accounts it can be deduced that apart from the
56
Das Gupta, p. 123. Khola= khol, an instrument of percussion; Nupur= an anklet set with small bells used
by dancers; Tobla= tabla; Ghunghur= a string of larger bells worn at the ankle or the waist; Tappa=
traditional semiclassical vocal style in Bengal.
57
Girish Chandra Ghosh; quoted by Das Gupta, p. 137.
58
Das Gupta, p. 87.
23
sexual connotations and poor literary standards of Jatra, the connection of its main
content, the Vidya-Sundar story, to the Islamic literary vision became a principal reason
for the colonial academia to lash out at its vulgarity. In one of his lectures, in 1909 at
the University of Calcutta, the Bengali professor Dinesh Chandra Sen said:
and cared not if the doors of heaven were shut. ... The
the control of those evil stars that held sway over the
24
prominently in the literature of this period. ... Indeed the
scenes of illicit love out of their poems. But the kutni now
the earlier Bengali works. The style and the spirit both
It is this revolting love inherited from the Islamic past which caused the abhorrence of a
squad of theatre, media and academic personalities. That this illicit love affair could
throw the social order into complete disarray, a purely Western interpretation of
sexuality, might have guided the social gurus to teach against the illicitness whereas,
59
Dinesh Chandra Sen, History of Bengali Language and Literature (Delhi: Gian Publishing House,
1986), pp. 617-621.
25
strangely enough, by virtue of spirituality alone, divine illicitness and the activities of the
kutnis or dutis60 depicted in the Hindu texts met the moral standard of that age. As a
matter of fact, the Hindu-Muslim dichotomy and the resulting spiritual-profane duality
led to what we have seen until now, the common hatred against quotidian popular
cultural practices like Jatra. With regard to the drawbacks61 of Jatra one can reveal how
On the other hand, the communal harmony, which was also reflected in Kabigan,
developed a rift within due to the spatial dispersal of the lower orders.63 Being forced
to relocate to distant or other parts of the city the Muslims, for example, started getting
isolated.64 Kabi-singers dominated the cultural sphere of Calcutta till the 1830s and by
the middle of the same century they almost disappeared from the scene, and were
replaced by the Jatra performers and Panchali singers.65 The flourishing Battala
Jatra, Panchali, and other performances came out of the strong presence of this type of
literaturethe challenges they faced from the printing press.67 Nevertheless, from the
60
Ibid., p. 620.
61
De, p. 406.
62
Sumanta Banerjee, The Parlour and the Streets: Elite and Popular Culture in Nineteenth Century
Calcutta (Calcutta: Seagull Books, 1989), p. 138. In his opinion it was an organized campaign.
63
Ibid.
64
Ibid.
65
Ibid., p. 138.
66
Ibid. pp. 139-140.
67
Ibid., p. 140.
26
history of the evolution of popular cultural practices in nineteenth-century Bengal it
seems that power, both political and financial, decided the quality and type of literary and
performing productions. The standard and subject of such productions were decided by
the section of society which acquired power and money not by industry proper but
rights. Their choice and preferences upped the index of literary or other output. The
previous standards were made redundant by the ruling class. But humour, satire,
obscenity, irony, sarcasm, caricature, parody continued throughout the century in one
form after another not just as ornamentation or disturbing element, but also as the
means to protest against the humiliation68 and discrimination. The ribaldry and sexual
jokes in the jatras were often an expression of the common mans desire to thumb his
pornographic desire;70 it may also be construed as the celebration of the world of the
senses, a playful expression of primitive sensuality71 and gaiety, which, perhaps, was the
driving force to overcome the feeling of deprivation and dejection.72 Like many other
expressions of humour, the secret source of the comicality of Calcutta folk culture was
not joy, but sorrow and helplessness in an oppressive environment.73 The educated
68
Ibid.
69
Ibid.
70
Ibid., p. 141.
71
Ibid., p. 142.
72
Ibid., p. 144.
73
Ibid., p. 146.
27
gentry were hardly bothered with such human emotional complexities; they were
celebrating Englishness.
referring to the marginalization of the indigenous folk culture of India under the impact
her own course, and that the growth of her literature has
Probably that was why the markets, libraries and archives in England at that point of
time were being stacked with Indian folklore collections. The entertainment provided by
performers and their arts were part of the colonial booty. The British collectors called
74
Quoted by Sumanta Banerjee, p. 5.
28
India the goldmine of folklore, and there was talk of who shall go to the digging.75
These incidents prove that there were people who expressed their opinion on the other
more critically. Sumanta Banerjee cited two comments in this regard, one by a Bengali
bhadralok, the other by an English observer. While the former strived to distinguish
between the ideal of love in the past and his own time (The ideal of love in those days
was based on physical attraction), the latter was of the view that European standards of
obscenity would fail if applied to the study of indigenous cultural practices (European
analogy and distinction somehow fail. It is sometimes difficult here to draw the
The one-sided discourse of the construction of culture practices from the top
continued until the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) of the 1930s decided to pay
due attention to the peoples culture. Later, the Indian Peoples Theatre Association
(IPTA) bore the same ideology in its constitution. For now, it would suffice to say that
the causes for the mounting tension within these organizations were not only hidden in
their ideological incompetence but also in the intrusive proscenium stage which, still
thought to be a potent medium of art, eventually came to disunite the peoples theatre
movement altogether. I have already mentioned that there was something in the
proscenium stage which was apparently not suitable for this part of the world, because it
is a site where the power of performance always comes to the centre. It is not the
collective effort of the actors nor even the texts but the power of individual performance
75
Sadhana Naithani, How About Some Artistic Recognition? Folk Performers in Post-Independence
India, Performers and Their Arts: Folk, Popular and Classical Genres in a Changing India, ed. Simon
Charsley and Laxmi Narayan Kadekar (London: Routledge, 2006), p. 112.
76
Sumanta Banerjee, p. 141.
29
and direction that takes control of the event. Actually, the acceptance of the proscenium
stage and the rejection of traditional culture were the same: the former is a Barthesian
mythic body (of theatre) and the latter is not. We need to understand the complex nature
of a new cultural politics and its relationship to an exclusionary stage, which prepared the
ground for Badal Sircars entry into theatre in the early 1950s. This is the second phase of
the history of the Bengali stage and the cultural consciousness of the ruling class.
II
Although the modern Bengali theatre emerged during the colonial period, most of
the plays are devoid of the anguish of political repression, containing, instead, allegorical
patriotism, and full of imitations of Western dramaturgy. In fact, once done with the
process of structural validation (of the proscenium stage), such quest for derivative
artistry is not unnatural at the young stage of any art form, especially at a time when the
colonized mind was being purged constantly by Western standards of justice and ethics.
Of course, it would be wrong to suggest that all the plays of this period (for example,
Nildarpan, Sadhabar Ekadashi, Buro Shalikher Ghare Ron, Ekei Ki Bale Sabhyata,
Balidan) were completely indifferent to the suffering of the common people. But with the
advent of commercialism and, more importantly, the Dramatic Performances Act 1876,
Bengali theatre became a mouthpiece for Hindu revivalism and a platform for spectacular
extravaganza. The dramatists capitalized on public sentiments and drew large numbers of
spectators into the theatre. The early theatre thinking of Bengal was not exceptional in
30
this regard. Through the selection of Sanskrit plays, stories from Hindu mythology,
incidents depicting new moral standards for Hindus (especially the women), the
After the Hindu Mela, it frequently occurred to me how the peoples affection [for the
country] and patriotism could be awakened. Finally, I thought, perhaps the purpose
would be served by using past heroic stories and the glorious narratives of India in the
Despite some apparent changes in Bengali theatre by the impact of the middle-
class-led Swadeshi Movement of 1905 and the movement against the Partition of Bengal,
transformation was discerned: it was mostly confined to a Hinduist discourse due to its
inspiration from the political unrest conspicuously dyed in Hinduism.79 Eventually, when
the need to spread the struggle for Independence among the poor masses was felt, routine
theatre practice, considered to have already reached its modernity,80 was at a loss; the
lameness of this commercial theatre became evident with the growing force of struggle.81
According to Sushil Kumar Mukherjee, a sharp decline in the standard of public theatre
77
Susobhan Sarkar thinks, Our glorious past appeared, however, to be predominantly Hindu, springing
from a social cohesion largely unshaken by the new storm and stress. Oriental traditionalism had thus a
second elementthe consciousness of Hindu superiority. India's civilization was almost equated with
Hindu culture and India itself seemed to be essentially Hindu in its character. The fact that the 'awakened'
educated community was almost exclusively Hindu by origin lent strength to such assumptions. Susobhan
Sarkar, On the Bengal Renaissance (Kolkata: Papyrus, 1979), p. 73.
78
Quoted by Asutosh Bhattacharya, pp. 267-268 (translation mine).
79
Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Janagan o Theatre in Gananatya, ed. Shakti Bandyopadhyay, October
1989, p. 18.
80
According to Asutosh Bhattacharya, the modern age of Bengali theatre was born of the Swadeshi
Movement of 1905. He says that patriotism fathered modernism in Bengali theatre (pp. 724-725).
81
Manoranjan Bhattacharya, Janagan o Theatre, p. 19.
31
could be observed during the first two decades of the twentieth century. He says that a
close observation of the list of plays staged between 1912 and 1922 will reveal the state
of decline. All the prominent actors were also gone. As a result, between 1912 and 1922
neither were good original plays staged nor was there any powerful player in the public
theatre. Some plays were repeated time and again till they lost their public appeal. The
The first decade of the twentieth century was also not very productive even for
Rabindranath Tagore. Nothing in the shape of drama emerged during this time.83 The
dramatic inspiration returned in 1908 that ushered in new directions in his career.84
Between 1910 and 1912 there appeared Raja, Achalayatan and Dakghar, three of the
finest plays in Bengali. Prior to that, he expressed his ideas on theatre in an essay titled
Rangamancha (The Stage) which indicated that a complete volte-face had occurred in
his thoughts about the theatre.85 Tagores subsequent plays were conceived on the lines
82
Sushil Kumar Mukherjee, The Story of the Calcutta Theatres 1753-1980 (Calcutta: K P Bagchi &
Company, 1982), pp. 127-128.
83
Ananda Lal, Introduction to Rabindranath Tagore: Three Plays (Calcutta: The M P Birla Foundation,
1987), p. 20.
84
Ibid., p. 21.
85
Ibid., p. 29. We will discuss this essay later, in the context of Badal Sircars theory and practice.
86
Ibid., p. 30.
32
travelled between Calcutta and Santiniketan, people outside
The advent of a new style and atmosphere through Sisir Kumar Bhaduri during
the twenties showed rays of hope for the bourgeoisie.88 His selection of plays including
Tagores, change from artificial to natural acting style, arrangement and presentation of
the stageeverywhere a significant attitudinal change could be observed. But the most
significant transformation took place in the production of plays in the technical sense.
Hitherto the term producer or production was unknown in the theatre. There was stage
manager, the trainer or the motion-master, but no producer.89 Sisir Kumar Bhaduris
joining the public theatre gave a great impetus to the performers. Under the influence of
new people Bengali theatre was rejuvenated once again. With the arrival of these new
artistes with their new style of acting, a new consciousness about the art of production of
plays, the application of new technique, Bengali theatre reached its peak in the
twenties of the present century.90 On the other side, his personal attempts were based on
the systems of old proprietorship and worn-out subject matter, aimed at a traditional
audience, hence he could not inspire others to follow his reformations within the old
decrepit system of the commercial stage91: the failure subsequently became the cause of
87
Ibid., p. 33.
88
Darshan Chaudhuri, Gananatya Andolon (Kolkata: Anustup Prakashoni, 1994), pp. 4-5.
89
Mukherjee, p. 154.
90
Ibid., p. 158.
91
Darshan Chaudhuri, Gananatya Andolan, pp. 4-5.
33
his agony.92 Like other directors/producers of the time he failed to realize the significance
of political conflicts, the arising demands of society93 and the changes taking place in the
cultural sphere.94 His field of experimentation, the professional stage, was still not
It was with the outbreak of the Second World War whose shadow fell on
Calcutta in 1942 that the evil days began and for the next ten years the very existence of
the public theatre was at stake.96 The crowded city assumed a different look. People who
were scared for their lives did not have money to lavish on entertainments. Naturally
there were few theatregoers at such a time. The economic conditions of the people had
declined. The Indian political situation was also not conducive to artistic quests. To make
the situation even worse there came the shocking manmade famine of Bengal in 1943.
The streets of Calcutta filled with thousands of starving faces and lifeless bodies. The air
was heavy with the cries for food and lamentations for dearest ones. In the background
there was the haunting communal tension born of the two-nation theory and at the same
time the clarion call of Subhas Chandra Bose to march towards Delhi. Despite such
political restlessness Calcutta theatres continued to present plays, though with occasional
closures. After the War and amidst the negotiations between the British and the Indian
leaders on transferring power there came, borrowing the phrase from The Statesman, the
92
Ibid, p. 55.
93
Ibid, pp. 7-8.
94
Ibid, p. 55.
95
Sudhi Pradhan, Gana-Naba-Sat-Goshthi Natyakatha (Kolkata: Krantik Prakashani, 1992), p. 30.
96
Mukherjee, p. 158.
34
Great Calcutta Killing of 16 August 1946the devastating communal riot between the
Muslims and the Hinduswhich took a toll of thousands of lives. Indian independence
came by dint of several diplomatic compromises and at the cost of the partition of the
Punjab and Bengal provinces, leading to massacres. Further devastation followed when
millions of people crossed over the newly drawn boundaries in search of peace. Instead,
they encountered irreversible refugee problems which threw the normal course of life out
of gear. Naturally, these times were not at all suitable for theatre performances.
century Bengali theatre took place during this dark period, reminding us of the
significantly enough
century the Bengali stage was already more than fifty years
35
large measure in the creation of a genuine dramatic
Although the Bengali repertoire had established itself, it will not be wrong to say
that the late 1850s and the 1940s are comparable in terms of political/cultural awareness
of the citizens of Calcutta and the newness of theatrical productions, which immediately
ensued. The years prior to Indian independence provided the impetus to young authors
and artistes to join the cultural movement against worldwide political and social fascism.
With the establishment of the PWA in 1935, Indian writers entered a new age of
collective identity, which was pushed forth by the IPTA movement in the 1940s, though
both were beset by self-destructive problems. Sushil Mukherjee writes in this regard,
The Indian Peoples Theatre Association gave a new turn to Bengali drama and Bengali
theatre, the fruits of which were later delivered with artistic embellishments by different
theatre groups of the city. The production of Bijon Bhattacharyas Jabanbandi and
Nabanna in 1944 marks the beginning of this new theatre albeit outside the commercial
one, but the effect of which, however remote, it could not escape.98 Himani Bannerji
was galvanized by the new protagonist, the people.99 Rightly she says:
97
Brajendra Nath Banerjee, p. 17.
98
Mukherjee, p. 258.
99
Bannerji, p. 46.
36
stage and for the first time since the inception of Bengali
sought to bridge the gap between the rural and the urban
In the year 1935, the PWA was founded in London by a handful of Indian
publishing literature; to establish a close connection between the central and local
organisations and to cooperate with those literary organisations whose aims do not
conflict with the basic aims of the Association; (b) To form branches of the Association
in all the important towns of India; (c) To produce and to translate literatures of a
progressive nature, to fight cultural reaction, and in this way to further the cause of
Indias freedom and social regeneration; (d) To protect the interests of progressive
100
Ibid., p. 47.
101
Ibid., p. 48.
37
authors; and (e) To fight for the right of free expression of thought and opinion.102 The
eventual failure of PWA was inherent in the texture of this manifesto. It lacked the vigour
and zeal necessary to ignite the fire in the heart of the writers against imperialism and
fascism. Without analysing the conditions and nature of development of Indian literature,
the young Marxist writers and planners of the PWA applied their experiences of
they thought, would be progressive in nature. The aims and objectives of the Association
were laid down in its Constitution with no definite idea of either revolution or the
102
Resolution and Manifesto of the 1st and 2nd All India Conference of P.W.A, Marxist Cultural
Movement in India: Chronicles and Documents, vol.1, compiled and edited by Sudhi Pradhan (Calcutta:
Santi Pradhan, 1985), pp. 75-76.
103
Pradhan, Gana-Naba-Sat-Goshthi Natyakatha, p. 56. Pradhan exemplified his point of argument on pp.
55-58.
38
cons of cultural movement at the particular historical
This was rightly understood by M. G. Hallet who was the Home Secretary to the
observations: The proclaimed aims of the Association are comparatively innocuous and
suggest that it concerns itself solely with the organisation of journalists and writers and
Association was dragged into a series of bitter discussions about theoretical purity and its
104
Sudhi Pradhan, Marxist Cultural Movement in India: Chronicles and Documents, vol. 2 (Calcutta:
Navanna, 1982), pp. 6-7.
105
Hallet Circular, in Pradhan, Marxist Cultural Movement in India, vol. 1, p. 107.
39
After the Second Annual Conference of the P.W.A.
retrogressive.106
As a result of these and more serious rightist tactics the rift in the Marxist cultural
The Bengal unit of IPTA was formed in 1943 as a branch of the Anti-Fascist
Writers and Artists Association of Bengal and the cultural unit of the Communist Party
106
Foreword, ibid, p. xiii.
107
Pradhan says, The split in the Anti-Imperialist United Front, started inside the Congress Socialist
Party of India in which both Communists and independent Socialists worked together with the P.W.A.
journal and the Socialist Book Club they were working together to propagate the cause of scientific
socialism or in other words Marxism. The split widened after Subhas Boses re-election as the Congress
President in 1939. Although entire left forces in India voted for him the C.S.P. remained neutral when the
Rightists launched their offensive in the Tripuri session of the Indian National Congress to remove Subhas
Bose. By March 1940 Communists had been expelled from the C.S.P. Sajjad Zaheer the first general
secretary of the P.W.A. was also a joint secretary of the C.S.P. He and K. T. Chandi of the Bombay Branch
of the C.S.P. were among the expelled members together with E. M. S. Namboodiripad, P. Ram Murthy
and P. Sundarayya. So in the first phase of the Second World War i.e. in 1939-41, the Marxist Cultural
movement had a set-back due to disruptive activities of a section of the Left, with the active connivance of
the Right, with Jawaharlal sitting on the fence with uneasy conscience. (Ibid., p. xiv) A political
confusion regarding war, fascism and the way to achieve Indian freedom, created a rift in the leftist
movement. Repression let loose by the British Government, also immobilised the active workers who were
either imprisoned or had to go underground. (Ibid., p. xv)
40
of India (CPI)108, with a view to fight against fascism. The mass tragedy during the
Second World War, the great famine of Bengal in 1943, death by plague, flood, storm,
black marketing, profiteeringall these induced IPTA to reach out to the people.109 The
Association started its cultural work among the masses by disseminating news of the
misfortune of the common people, collecting funds from different sources to contribute to
the Peoples Relief Committee. In the prospect of a free and classless society it ran from
one corner of the country to the other with its repertoire of songs, dances, shadow theatre,
short tableaux and plays which essentially portrayed the agony and protest of the toiling
class.110 As a brief interlude, the name of the Youth Cultural Institute, established in the
Although the movement started by the IPTA (Bengal unit) was an urban
keeping with its Marxist ideology the association was able to spread its activities to the
remote villages and small towns with great success.111 In this sense the IPTA can be
described as the first urban cultural organization to bring out cultural practices from the
possession of the privileged class and disseminate them among the common people. But
Himani Bannerji expressed deep concern about this process of dissemination. In her
108
Darshan Chaudhuri, Gananatya Andolan, pp. 23-24.
109
Ibid., p. 23.
110
Ibid.
111
Good readings for this are Indian Peoples Theatre AssociationBulletin No. 1 (Pradhan, vol. 1, pp.
145-189) and The IPTA Constitution (ibid., pp. 253-263). But Pradhan writes in p. xx (ibid.) of the same
book that The organisation of the cultural movement was never very elaborately or thoughtfully planned.
41
Popular language became a matter of deep concern
lives. And yet given the time and the embryonic state of
42
a demand for a realist theatre. Outside and unaware of the
performances of India during the freedom struggle from a different perspective that may
have a bearing on the polarity suggested by Bannerji. In Naithanis views the freedom
movement made use of folk performers and their repertoire as ours, unadulterated by
the colonisers culture and education, and thus attracted the attention, interest and passion
of educated, nationalist and communist Indians but again, no one was thinking of the
performers, their changing lives and forms.113 The attitude did not change even after
Independence.114
Along the lines of the PWA and Anti-Fascist Writers and Artists Association,
another organization was founded in 1942 which deserves to be mentioned here as the
forerunner of such unions as the Actors Association, Radio Artists Association and
Bengal. According to Sudhi Pradhan it was the first Trade Union, an assembly against
exploitation, by the intellectuals of India.115 From his elaborate account it is now clear
112
Bannerji, p. 48.
113
Naithani, p. 113.
114
Ibid., p. 118. On one hand folk literature was advertised as the national heritage, used for the
construction of the nations image, on the other hand its bearers/possessors were forced to trudge a
wretched life. According to Naithani, the problem lies in the economic determinism being applied to folk
performers. Their identity as performers and artists has been constantly undermined. (p. 115)
115
Pradhan, Gana-Naba-Sat-Goshthi Natyakatha, p. 94.
43
that the role this association assumed fetched great success in the artists struggle against
oppression and inequality.116 Amidst such dramatic progress, the IPTA was on the march
with a new enthusiasm and zeal to spread its ideologies of socialism and communism
among the destitute of the country. The success of peoples theatre was heightened, so
much so that both the British administration and the professional theatre owners were
alarmed to the extent that not only were the IPTAs activities kept under strict
surveillance, but theatre halls (even of Sisir Kumar Bhaduri and Ahindra Chaudhuri) too
were not rented out to them, thanks to the vested interests of the ruling class.117 But the
drawbacks of metamorphosis kept growing in the midst of communist idealism within the
Ghosh, cited in detail the reasons for the catastrophe in the organization.118 First of all,
he counted the lack of understanding of the changes taking place in national and
international politics, which resulted in the conspiratorial entente between the allied
victors in Europe and Asia and the released Congress leaders so that they might share
power and rule by dividing India into several pieces;119 secondly, instead of spreading its
ideologies among the people and strengthening the movement, some members of IPTA
had developed bourgeois tastes for popular culture. Pradhan writes in this context,
patriotic peoples war (It was Stalin who spoke again and
116
Ibid., pp. 94-112.
117
Darshan Chaudhuri, Gananatya Andolan, pp. 23-24, 30.
118
In Pradhan, Marxist Cultural Movement in India, vol. 1, pp. 324-332.
119
Pradhan, Foreword, ibid., pp. xix-xx.
44
again of patriotic war), continued to be maintained. In the
45
characterised by popular upsurges in different parts of
India.120
The selection process of the members for the cultural movement and the division
of labour among the important members of the organization were arbitrary.121 Moreover,
the reformist interests of the General Secretary of the CPI, P. C. Joshi, made its cultural
organization trail behind the ideology. He was rather inclined to hold cultural events in
Bombay, which ultimately encouraged urbanism and competition with the bourgeois
institutions.122 This trend ushered in a new tendency of inviting the established artistes
instead of the ordinary ones in order to make the events successful123 by the presence of a
crowd of educated, middle-class and upper-class audiences who were interested only in
fashionable socialism.124 In pursuance of a voracious desire for art, fame and ambition,
the mass movement and hope for a revolution were sacrificed.125 In Calcutta the
sweeping success of the first production of Nabanna on a revolving stage made one of its
directors, Sombhu Mitra, more rigid, so much so that he refused to produce Nabanna on a
simple stage elsewhere (for instance, in the villages)nor were other members of the
association ready to go out, whereas they were supposed to do so, at least that was why
120
Pradhan, Preface, Marxist Cultural Movement in India, vol. 2, pp. 8-9. He had raised the issue in
volume 1 (p. xxi) as well.
121
Ibid., vol. 1, p. xxi.
122
Darshan Chaudhuri, Gananatya Andolan, p. 58.
123
Ibid.
124
Pradhan, Gana-Naba-Sat-Goshthi Natyakatha, p. 23.
125
Darshan Chaudhuri, Gananatya Andolan, p. 58.
126
Ibid., pp. 56-57.
46
For these reasons, at the last stage of P. C. Joshis career, those apolitical or
professional artistes left the peoples theatre and tried to build their own groups. By this
time the Congress leaders had been freed, the office of the IPTA and its workers were
attackedand two of them were gunned down at the residence of Charuprakash Ghosh
Congress-Communist fights took place during the last election under the British
dominion: these incidents induced those with feeble or no idealism of peoples theatre to
leave,127 though the blame for being flushed out was laid on the Communist Party, its
policies and instructions.128 Then, there came the Ranadive era of strict rule, only to
expedite the exodus from the association and eventually give birth to the so-called
Nabanatya Andolan (new theatre movement), and later the Sat (honest) and Goshthi
This is the brief history of the development of the most promising theatre
movement in Bengal, which wanted to work among the proletariat but ended up in sheer
confusion, if not retrogression. Is the evolution of the peoples theatre movement not a
teachers and possibly well applied against the bourgeoning local thinkersof the
striking similarities between the period when Bengali theatre had just started taking
shape, the strategies of getting it validated, the sophistries, the tactics of eliminating all
that belonged to the rural poor, and the quest for the betterment of theatre in the 1940s, its
127
Pradhan, Gana-Naba-Sat-Goshthi Natyakatha, p. 23.
128
Report of Charuprakash Ghosh, ibid., pp. 70-71.
47
unwillingness to cast more than a token glance at the villagers, the pressure to return to a
particular type of exclusivist stage, the disloyalty of many IPTA memberssuggest that
modern Bengali theatre never belonged to the masses, the poor; it always remained an
instrument of the middle and upper classes for controlling the cultural discourse which
later sustained the free and unrestrained growth of market economy. In his assessment of
the situation, Sudhi Pradhan cites a statement by Manoj Mitra, now one of Bengals most
by deceiving ourselves.129
Probably, that is why the subsequent history of group theatres is dull with groupism and
the egotism of the omnipotent administrative heads, leading in turn to their disintegration
On the other hand, cultural organizations like the Congress Sahitya Sangha
(Bengal) or Indian National Theatre (Bombay) led by the National Congress could not
follow the path of the PWA and IPTA to unite the progressive artistes of the country.130
As the year 1946 drew to a close, in addition to British oppression, the hostility of
129
Pradhan, Gana-Naba-Sat-Goshthi Natyakatha, pp. 129-130 (translation mine).
130
Darshan Chaudhuri, Gananatya Andolan, p. 57.
48
Congress workers just freed from confinement lashed out at the Communists.131 The
Communist Party of India (CPI) was banned and, immediately after Independence, the
Congress government invoked the notorious Dramatic Performances Act of 1876 more
strictly; on 26 March 1948 the CPI was proscribed again. Fifty-nine plays, all produced
by IPTA (Bengal), were scanned by the Commissioner of Police and nearly all of them
131
Ibid., p. 60.
132
Ibid., p. 61.
49
formed under its auspices, the government gives patronage
peoples culture.
50
It puts innumerable impediments in the way of the
51
struggle for genuine peoples democracy and lasting
peace.133
These paragraphs help us understand that the period after Indian independence
was really very gloomy for the Marxist cultural movement. Moreover, there were the
signs of deep crisis within the Party134 as well. The predicament was obvious in areas
other than the cultural front. The peasant front was suffering from critical illnesses like
the ruling partys effort to disrupt organised peasant movements135; the additional
difficulties in the trade union movement after the formation of the INTUC by the Indian
National Congress and the establishment of the arbitration boards by the State
Governments to settle disputes between the employers and the employees136 left its scars
on the cultural sphere too. Pradhan writes, The signs of this crisis were not always
evident on the surface, because the process of decline was slow and largely subterranean
in the beginning, but there is no doubt that the maladies had been there in the movement
before the party split.137 During this period of confusion, dereliction and suppression of
the Marxist ideologies and emergence of rightist politics in India, Badal Sircar left the
Communist Party of India like many others. Once out of the organizational politics
everything appeared empty to him. In order to fill up that emptiness he joined theatre
133
E. M. S Namboodiripad, Communist Party and the Struggle for Cultural Advance in Marxist
Cultural Movement in India: Chronicles and Documents (1943-1964), compiled and edited by Sudhi
Pradhan, vol. 3 (Kolkata: Santi Pradhan, 1985), pp. 485-486.
134
Pradhan, Preface, vol. 3, p. ii.
135
Ibid.
136
Ibid., pp. ii-iii.
137
Ibid. p. iii.
52
the proscenium theatrewhich can be well described as typical of the Bengali theatre
53