Culture and the city

"Ruddha sangeet". Wonderful production.


http://www.natyoshala.org/trial/node/60

The dialogues are sharp and incisive.Acting superb. Debshankar Haldar is brilliant so is the actor who played Ritwik Ghatak’s role in the play. On Saturday there were two shows both running to full capacity. The play is hugely cerebral with liberal doses of music and physical theatre weaved in between the highly charged scenes . It appeals to the typical thinking Kolkatan’s tastes the eternal desire to challenge tradition and break free from all types of bondage . We met Bratya Basu on our way out and thanked him for presenting such an absorbing production.The only sore point for us was the poorly enacted role of Hemanga Biswas.Hemanga Biswas the folk singer was from Sylhet.The character's dialogues were in sylheti but spoken with a  purely West Bengalee accent. It struck such  a jarring note in an otherwise beautiful portryal .I felt the director could have tried a bit more and found someone who could speak the dialect more naturally.
Kolkata’s cultural nerve point -The Academy of Fine Arts ,Rabindra Sadan and Nandan -was crowded as usual with atists, art lovers,critics and general public who had turned up to have a good time all hanging around in perfect harmony. Kolkata’s cultural life remains vibrant as ever. Almost thirty years back there used to be huge queues here to procure a prized ticket for the annual film festivals .Seeing world class movies is no longer a rarity.The options and choices are many. But theatre still dominates the Bengalee cultural milieu .So does music and other performances. The Academy and its surroundings still remains the heart of Kolkata’s cultural life.