CHANDRABATI KATHA

 

NANDIPAT PRODUCTION

CHANDRABATI KATHA

পূজারী ব্রাহ্মণ দ্বিজ বংশীদাস, একজন পালাকারও বটে। কষ্টে-সৃষ্টে চলে তাঁর সংসার। তাঁর উৎসাহে কাব্য রচনা করে বংশীদাস ও সুমালার একমাত্র কন্যা চন্দ্রাবতী। বাগানে ফুল তুলতে গিয়ে চন্দ্রাবতীর সাথে দেখা হয় গ্রামেরই ছেলে জয়ানন্দের। প্রথম দর্শনেই একে অপরের প্রেমে পড়ে তারা। শুরু হয় জয়ানন্দ চন্দ্রাবতীর প্রেমের উপাখ্যান। ঘটকের ঘটকালিতে ব্যবস্থা হয় তাদের বিবাহের। গ্রামের কাজী মহিলাদের লেখাপড়া করার বিরুদ্ধে। তার ফরমানের বিরোধিতা করে চন্দ্রা। কাজীর বিষ নজরে পড়ে চন্দ্রাবতী। কাজীর ষড়যন্ত্রে জয়নালের কন্যা কোকিলা তার রূপ লাস্যে ভোলায় জয়ানন্দকে। জয়ানন্দ আকৃষ্ট হয়ে পড়ে কোকিলার প্রতি। বিবাহের আগেই সে পালিয়ে যায় কোকিলার সঙ্গে। মাথায় বাজ ভেঙে পড়ে দ্বিজ বংশীদাসের সংসারে। চন্দ্রাবতী সিদ্ধান্ত নেয় সে আজীবন অবিবাহিত থাকবে। পরবর্তীকালে ভুল বুঝতে পেরে ফিরে আসে জয়ানন্দ চন্দ্রাবতীর কাছে, কিন্তু চন্দ্রাবতী তাকে প্রত্যাখান করে। ভেঙে পড়ে জয়ানন্দ। বারবার প্রত্যাখ্যাত হওয়ার পরে আত্মহত্যার পথ বেছে নেয় সে। তীব্র মানসিক আঘাত পায় চন্দ্রাবতী। শেষে জয়ানন্দের পথ অনুসরণ করে সেও আত্মাহুতি দেয়। শেষ হয় প্রথম মহিলা কবির জীবনের আখ্যান।।

Set against the backdrop of mid16th century. East Bengal, "Chandrabati Katha celebrates the golden era of Bengali folk-ballad along with the first female poet of Bengal who is credited as one of the major contributors of 'Mymensingh Geetika. On the bank of river Sundha, Chandrabati, the young daughter of veteran poet Dwija Bangshidas, fell for young Jayananda but Fate had other plans for her when her musical ballads implicitly criticised the ruler. One of her plays incited the wrath of local Kaji and he sent an enchantress to lure Jayananda away on the day of his and Chandra's wedding with the aim of destroying the rebel's life. Heartbroken Chandra vowed to stay unmarried for the rest of her life and confined herself in the Shiva Temple. Undeterred, she later rose from the ashes like a Phoenix and started composing the first Bengali Ramayana from the perspective of Sita which is one of the oldest feminist retellings of the great Indian epic.

Play | Ujjwal Chattopadhyay

Direction | Prokash Bhattacharya

Set & Costume | Sandip Suman Bhattacharya

Light | Dipankar Dey

Song | Subhadeep Guha

Music | Sushruta Goswami

Choreography | Debkumar Pal

Make-up | Sk. Israfil

Production Controller | Pintu Das

নাটক। উজ্জ্বল চট্টোপাধ্যায়

নির্দেশনা। প্রকাশ ভট্টাচার্য

মঞ্চ ও পোশাক। সন্দীপ সুমন ভট্টাচার্য

আলো। দীপঙ্কর দে

গানের সুর। শুভদীপ ওহ

আবহ। সুশ্রুত গোস্বামী

অঙ্গ-বিন্যাস। দেবকুমার পাল

রূপসজ্জা। শেখ ইস্রাফিল

প্রযোজনা নিয়ন্ত্রণ। পিন্টু দাস

Production Assistants:

Anjan Roy Chowdhuri (Direction)

Isanjit De (Set)

Poulomi Banerjee (Costume)

Sanjib Choudhury (Make-up)

Tanushree Mondal, Manami Roy (Requisition)

প্রযোজনা সহকারী:

অঞ্জন রায়চৌধুরী (নির্দেশনা)

ঈশানজিৎ দে (মঞ্চ)

পৌলমী ব্যানার্জি (পোশাক)

সঞ্জীব চৌধুরী (রূপসজ্জা)

তনুশ্রী মন্ডল, মনামী রায় (আহার্য)

Musical accompaniments:

Flute: Sushruta Goswami

Rhythm: Soudeep Chakraborty 

Sarinda: Gobinda Dey

Dotara: Nilargha Dutta

সঙ্গীত সহযোগ:

বাঁশি: সুশ্রুত গোস্বামী 

তালবাদ্য: সৌদীপ চক্রবর্তী 

সারিন্দা: গোবিন্দ দে

দোতারা: নীলা্য দত্ত 

On stage

Chandrabati | Anwesa Bandyopadhyay

Bangshidas | Biplab Naha Biswas

Sumala | Sarbani Bhattacharya

Joyananda | Triguna Shankar

Kokila | Shweta Bagchi Mukherjee

Japomala | Poulomi Banerjee

Ghatak | Sanjib Choudhury

Bhairab | Ashis Das

Chand Binod, Ramchandra | Silajit Naskar

Kaji, Ravan | Isanjit De

Mandodari Jayanti Saha

Joynal, Ganak | Bismoy Ray, Pintu Das

Molua, Kukua | Manami Roy

Boudimani | Tanushree Mondal

Kutuni | Poulami Das

Sita | Shreya Saha

Sakhi | Shweta Jayanti Manami Tanushree Poulomi Shreya

অভিনয়ে

চন্দ্রাবতী: অন্বেষা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়

দ্বিজ বংশীদাস: বিপ্লব নাহা বিশ্বাস 

সুমালা: সর্বানী ভট্টাচার্য

জয়ানন্দ: ত্রিগুণাশঙ্কর

কোকিলা: শ্বেতা বাগচী মুখার্জি

জপমালা: পৌলমী ব্যানার্জি

ঘটক: সঞ্জীব চৌধুরী

ভৈরব: আশীষ দাস

চাঁদ বিনোদ, রামচন্দ্র: শীলাজিৎ নস্কর

কাজী, রাবণ: ঈশানজিৎ দে

মন্দোদরী: জয়ন্তী সাহা

জয়নাল, গণক: বিস্ময় রায়

মলুয়া, কুকুয়া: মনামী রায়

বৌদিমণি: তনুশ্রী মন্ডল

কুটুনি: পৌলমী দাস

সীতা: শ্রেয়া সাহা

সখী: শ্বেতা জয়ন্তী মনামী তনুশ্রী পৌলমী শ্রেয়া

Ornaments: Saheli Moitra, Photoghaphy: Snigdhendu Ghosal, Ashim Pal.

অভিনয়ের সময়সীমাঃ ১ঘঃ ৪৫ মিঃ (১০ মিনিটের বিরতি সহ)

Duration of the Play: 1hr. 45 mins (with an interval of 10 mins).

AARSHI

Play : Tirthankar Chanda

Direction : Prokash Bhattacharya 

The irony of our so called civilized society across the centuries is that women are being deprived of their rights in all aspects of life. Unlike men, they have to struggle for their existence. In order to sustain in the world of inequity, they compelled to take some radical decisions which may apparently sound self-centred, but later proved inevitable for their survival. The glories of Bengali Theatre like Binodini Dasi, Probhabati Devi and a famous actress of 60’s of last century had no exception in this regard. The sufferings in their individual social lives perhaps have a common feeling of severe disrespect of womanhood which they had to experience in their respective eras. Haunted by this thought, a woman playwright of today develops a play. She attempts to look back, beyond time, on how the hostile nature of the society affected the personal lives of these prodigy actresses. She protested against the male aggression's which are still widely prevailing. She swims against the tide with the characters of her play. The play revolves with the truth of legacy of such dispossession of womanhood vis-a-vis counter revolution which reflects in the mirror (AARSHI) of our society.

CAST :

ARUNIMA : Sanjita Mukherjee

DIPAYAN : Sandip Suman Bhattacharya

ANUPAMA : Sarbani Bhattacharya

DEBABRATA : Saumitra Poddar

BIBHASH : Bappa Bangal/ sayan Debnath

STEWARD : Sanjib Chowdhury

YOUNG MAN : Arka Banerjee

GANGA : Srimoyee Mitra/Mandira Banerjee

NATI BINODINI : Monalisa Chattopadhyay

PRABHA DEVI : Sulakshana Saha

MR. BHADURI : Biplab Naha Biswas

SHIBENDRA : Ishanjit De

SADANANDA : Silajit Naskar

RADHA : Poulami Banerjee/Shikha Sarkar 

CREDITS :   

Set design : Sandip Suman Bhattacharya

Light design : Triguna Shankar

Music : Swapan Bandyopadhyay

Make-up : Md. Ali

Costume : Shikha Sarkar & Poulami Banerjee

Sound operation : Himangshu Pal

Production assistance : Anjan Roy Chowdhury  

Acknowledgement : Manoj Prasad, Santanu Saha 

First show : 23 July, 2017, Minerva Theatre, 6.30 pm.

Duration of the play : 2 hrs.(with an interval of 10 Mins.)

Mrityu-Na-Hatya

Mrityu-Na-Hatya

Synopsis of the play – One need not go long back in history. Only a few decades ago, the world was witness to the rise of the neo-left movement, beyond the traditional confines of the Communist. Establishment, and in developed, developing and backward countries alike. We all know how the movement shook up the socio-political life in our country. And we know how brutally the State machinery came down to crush it.

It was 1969. The venue: Milan, Italy. Sixteen people died of a bomb explosion. Predictably, the country’s left extremists were indicted. Some of them got arrested. Of them, Pineilli died while in prison. Before dying, he disclosed – to the police the manes of his Comrades-in-Arms. The case dragged on for ten long years. At the end which it was proved that the Fascists, including an agent of Italy’s secret police force, were responsible for the crime. The political and military bigwigs who had them on their payroll were all let off with a mere censure. Only petty criminals got punished.

The incident featured in Dario Fo’s immortal paly, Accidental Death of an Anarchist.  The national and international media had meanwhile criticised against the left extremists for the massacre in Milan. Dario Fo’s group, La Commune, went through the police reports, the investigation papers presented a parallel case through their play.

Based though on a tragic incident, the play, ironically enough, won plaudits for its presentation ass an outright comedy. The audience was kept entertained with a display of a series of comical absurdities on the stage. As the tragic events unfolded, revealing the ugly face of State terrorism, their faces turned grim and their eyes spiteful and angry.

Dario Fo’s art lies in casting an explosive subject in a comic mould. An art, indeed, worthy of emulation. As for the State power and ruling class, they retain character in history-be it in Mila in Italy, or in British India, or in Pinochet’s Chile, or for that matter, in Kolkata during the Congress regime )may be, during the present times even ?). Our ‘comedy’ Mrityu-Na-Hatya(Death, or Murder?) speaks of all this and more.

Credit :

Play : Dario Fo

Set Design : Sandip Suman Bhattacharya

Light : Jayanta Mukhopadhyay

Make-up : Sreedas

Sound Operation : Himangshu Pal

Wardrobe and Requisition : Biplab Naha Biswas

Production Controller : Saumitra Poddar

Publicity : Sanjib Chowdhury

Assistant Direction : Bimal Chakraborty

Adaptation and Direction : Bibhas Chakraborty

Cast :

Com. Ganapati Rao : Bimal Chakraborty

Ramoni Raman Karmakar : Biplab Naha Biswas

Runu Roy : Sanjib Chowdhury

Debi Neogi : Debdut Ghosh

Constable : Saumitra Poddar

Maitreyee Banerjee : Sarbani Bhattacharya

Duration of the Play - 2 Hours 10 minuties with an interval of 10 minuties.

First Show – 31^st August,1999 at Madhusudan Mancha, Kolkata

RAMANIMAHAN

RAMANIMAHAN

Ramanimohan, once an actor by profession, is now confined in his house though the inner-self of his soul always cherishes the bygone days of his acting career. He vividly visualizes the past and wishes to be on stage once more. An actor biologically, Ramonimohan, of course, acted in all the female roles and enthralled the spectator for years together. Unbelievable talent, Ramanimohan, is of no use today. A chance came; Ramani appears on stage once more after a long time. People burst into hilarity, some enjoyed his performance with profound amazement. A local political leader makes a room for proving his talent in his ripe old age.

 The youngest son Tapu, on whom Ramani and Suprova depend for their square meal, became furious and scolded him out rightly and interned him. He has been compelled not to act on stage in a female role as people laugh at his gestures and behavior. Some strongly believed that Ramani must be a eunuch. Poverty – stricken Ramani find no avenue to prove his talent once again

An artists’ soul can never be contented in confinement. Ramani hears the irresistible call from stage. An opportunity suddenly helps him seeing a new ray of hope.

Playwright-Shekhar Samaddar

Set-Sandip Suman Bhattacharya

Light-Adhir Ganguly

Music-Prasanta Bhattacharya

Make-up-Tapan Chakraborty

Sound Operation-Himangshu Pal

Direction :: Prokash Bhattacharya

CAST

Ramanimohan :: Chapal Bhadhuri

Suprova :: Sarbani Bhattacharya

Tapu :: Subhobrata Dey

Abani Talukdar :: Sandip Suman Bhattacharya

Kamal Kishore Sen :: Biplab Naha Biswas

Reporter :: Sarbani Saha

Subhas :: Sanjoy Das

Youngman :: Pintu Das

Youngman :: Triguna Shankar Manna

Youngman :: Bikash Kali Ghosh

Photographer :: Ashis Saha

First Show : 10th october 2005, Bombay House, Jaipur, 10 PM

Last Show : 05th December 2014, Academy Of Fine Arts , 6.30 PM

Duration of the play :: 1hr. 45mins. (with an interval of 10 mins.)

BHROM

BHROM

The elderly people of our present-day world must suffer the doom of a companionless existence. But the grey overtone of their withered days are sometimes relieved by a patch of green, a shower of the spring-when they defy their age and look forward to discover their own self through others. Something change is wrought in the lives of three elderly gentlemen-a retired senior police officer, a doctor, and a superannuated professor who indulges in painting. It is Rohini, a middle-aged beauty, to whom they owe this magic transformation.

But the axe of fatality has little reverence for the old age, and it strikes professor Srikumar who gets killed at the hand of his own servant. Rohini by this time had formed a special bond with professor, and his death leaves her in a state of a perpetual anxiety of getting killed in the hand of her own maid. Similar events in the headlines confirm her fear of a hidden knife lurking in the dark.

A gnawing insecurity of being left alone drives Rohini to take recourse to from one illusion to another. ‘I must kill before I become a prey to the killer’, she thinks. She the spectra of the dead professor everywhere.

Taranga, Rohini’s maid, suddenly disappears from the scene. The other elderly friends of the professor immediately set themselves to find a clue-one with a seasoned eye of a veteran investigator, and another with his practice of psycho-analysis. They delve into the facts, analyse them, and corroborate them with the testimony of Rohini. What really happened to Taranga? Is she killed too? Who killed her, and what is the ‘motive’?

Question, illusions, interpretations and misinterpretations spins round the mystery of disappearance and murder. As the suspense grows, an existential crisis of our ordinary everyday life slowly emerges from the dark.

Play – Ujjwal Chattopadhyay

Set Design – Sandip Suman Bhattacharya

Light Design – Badal Das

Music – Swapan Bandopadhyay

Make up – Alok Debnath

Sound Operation – Himangsu Pal & Bikash Kali Ghosh

Light Operation – Triguna Shankar & Dipak Dev

Set Making – Madan-Tinku

Requisition – Biplab Naha Biswas

Production Controller – Pintu Das

Production Assistance – Anjan Roychowdhury,

Ashis Das, Bappa Bangal, Mandira Banerjee.

Direction – Prokash Bhattacharya

On Stage :

Prasad – Sanjib Chowdhury

Bidhubhusan – Saumitra Poddar

Srikumar – Bimal Chakraborty
Rohini – Piyali Basu

Taranga – Sarbani Saha

Pabitra – Netai Hembram / Triguna Shankar

Ratan – Pintu Das

Manada – Mandira Banerjee / Sarbani Bhattacharya

Bouquet Carrier – Ashis Das / Avinandan Roy

Duration of the Play – 2 hrs. 10 mins.  (including an Interval of 10 mins.)

First Show : 31st March 2012, Gyan Mancha, 6.30 PM

Last Show : 25th February 2014, Academy Of Fine Arts, 6.30 PM