Indian Culture and Badal Sircar: A Critical Note
| Author |
| Dr Tapu Biswas |
| Date of Publication: December, 2024 |
| Volume: XXIII, No.- XXVI |
| Abstract |
| Badal Sircar (1925-2011), Indian revolutionary theatre personality was born in Calcutta in a middle-class Bengali family. Any historian or documentalist of the history of Calcutta through the ages can readily see that Calcutta, besides being the centre of Bengali language, literature and culture, has also been the cultural capital of India and the cradle of the flourishing of different language, literature, culture and journalism. Coming straight to the subject of the present paper, viz. “Badal Sircar and Indian Culture” the initial part of my discussion will focus on Badal Sircar as a Bengali playwright and his select texts translated, performed and adapted in different Indian languages including English. It is noticeable that the Hindi translations and productions of Badal Sircar’s plays contributed to the arousing of interest in his plays amongst even Bengali theatre persons and theatre- goers. Badal Sircar’s first Hindi translation was done by Ram Gopal Bajaj in 1967 followed by the second one by Dr. Pratibha Agrawal of Evam Indrajit in 19671. Ram Gopal Bajaj is a noted Hindi-speaking scholar, academician, theatre director and a Hindi film actor. The distinguished Hindi poet and translator Bharat Bhushan Agarwal (1919-1975) helped him to translate the poetic part of the text. This Hindi version by Ram Gopal Bajaj formed the basis for the first ever Hindi production of the play under the direction of the noted theatre director, actor and playwright Mohan Maharishi (a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi award). This maiden production of Evam Indrajit in Hindi was staged (only about a fortnight after the original Bengali version was produced in Calcutta), at Manzar Theatre, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and at Defence Pavilion Mathura Road, New Delhi on September 23, 24, 29, 30, and on October 1, 6, 7, 8 in 1967 under the aegis of the Delhi theatre group ‘Yatrik’. The production received notice at the national level but was caught up in a controversy because the producer-director changed the ending of the play. Continue…. |
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