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I have been regularly watching theatre since 2003. My most favourite venue to watch theatre is Academy Of Fine Arts. After this venue I also like Madhusudan Mancha in Dhakuria and Sujata Sadan in Hazra because these two venues are in south Calcutta. I stay in Lake Gardens so going to these three places is easy for me. Around 2008 and 2009 Kaushik Sen's theatre group 'Swapnasandhani' used to organize plays at Sujata Sadan every Saturday evening and I used to go there almost every Saturday. At the height of the Singur-Nandigram movement 'Swapnasandhani' had staged Nabarun Bhattacharya's 'Ondhho Biraler Golpo' at Sujata Sadan and it was amazing especially the way it criticized the then evil communist Government of West Bengal. I remember watching other plays there like 'Hargoj', 'Bhoy', 'Darjiparar Marjinara', 'Somudrer Mouno' etc. In south Calcutta there is also Muktangan and Tapan theatre in Rashbehari but over all these years I have only watched a few plays there. I remember watching the play 'Buddhijibi' at Tapan theatre, most probably in 2014, which was directed by Saurav Palodhi and Mir Afsar Ali had acted in it. Many times I have also gone to north Calcutta to watch theatres there in venues like Girish Mancha and Minerva.
Many years back, most probably in the late eighties or early nineties, when I was around eight or nine years old, my parents had taken me to watch a theatre. I do not remember the venue now but I remember clearly that it was a comedy because people were laughing at regular intervals and this play also involved a revolving stage. As a child I was fascinated to see the revolving stage. I guess in those days the concept of revolving stage was still there in Calcutta. Sadly nowadays it is no longer used. Academy Of Fine Arts still has this revolving stage but the parts and the machinery do not function any more.
In November of 2012, I went to the 'Chetona' theatre festival at Academy Of Fine Arts. I saw 'Putul Nacher Itikotha' on 23rd November and 'Nirnoi' on 24th November. Really liked both these plays. On 25th November, which was a Sunday, I went to Academy around 9 a.m. First I watched 'BodonChand LogonChand' which started at 10 a.m. It was a comedy. After this play I watched the iconic 'Marich Sangbad'. I had heard so many good things about this play. It was indeed mind blowing. The play also had two very famous songs, 'Meri Baba' and 'CIA CIA CIA'. For a long time I was actually searching for these two songs. So when the actors started performing these two songs, I quietly took out my mobile from my pocket and recorded these two songs. These two songs are really amazing and people who have not heard these songs have missed something in life. The whole play was magnificent. After watching this play, I had lunch at Raju's Kitchen. At 3 p.m. I saw 'Echhey Kusum' and then 'Shunnyo Shudhu Shunnyo Noi'. I did not quite like these two plays. They had some good moments in them in bits and pieces but overall they failed to impress me. In the evening most probably at 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. I watched 'Jogonnath'. This was another iconic play. Thus I watched five plays in one day. One of the best days ever spent in my life. Salute to Arun Mukhopadhyay who at the age of 75 years gave an awesome performance in the role of Jogonnath Das. This play has mesmerized audiences over so many decades and will still continue to do so in the future too.
I have seen many plays at Gyan Mancha too which is at Pretoria street. The first time I went there was in 2003 to see a musical concert by Kabir Suman and Anjan Dutta. Kabir Suman sang his English songs from his album 'Reaching Out' and Anjan Dutta sang his English songs from his album 'Bandra Blues'. The whole concert was to promote the English songs of these two albums. However Anjan Dutta ended this concert with Kabir Suman's bengali song 'Kotota Poth Peroley Tobe Pothik Bola Jai' which is the Bengali version of Bob Dylan's 'Blowing In The Wind'. Over all these years Anjan Dutta has staged many plays at Gyan Mancha like 'Galileo', 'Abani Opera', 'Teen Penny Opera', 'Medha', 'Salesmaner Songsar' and 'Raghupati'. Except 'Galileo' I have seen all the others. Then I have also seen 'Taray Taray' at Gyan Mancha, directed by Kaushik Sen, which was in 2018. Anjan Dutta played the role of Vincent Van Gogh in this play. Kaushik Sen's son Riddhi Sen also has a major role in this play.
I remember watching Theatrecian's play at Kala Mandir, most probably in 2009, which was based on Woody Allen's play titled 'God'. It was very funny and captivating. Then I remember watching Lillete Dubey's 'Gauhar' at GD Birla Sabhaghar in 2018. Rajeshwari Sachdev gave an amazing performance in it. The whole play was fabulous. After the end of the play I went on the stage and took a selfie with this wonderful woman named Lillete Dubey.
Throughout all these years I have seen so many plays like 'Moymonsingha Geetika', 'Hridipash', '21 Gram', 'Cinemar Moto', 'Bibhajan', 'Khoon', 'Onagoto', '15 Minutes To Fame', 'Mohora Cholchhey', 'Madhobi', 'Onto Aadi Onto', 'Urubhongom', 'Odya Shesh Rajoni', 'Tathagata', 'Biley', 'Byomkesh', 'Canvasar', 'Fyataru', 'Winkle Twinkle', 'Gorur Garir Headlight', 'Meghnad Badh Kabya', 'Ghashiram Kotwal', 'Chirokumar Sobha', 'Tista Parer Brittanto', 'Rani Kadambini', 'Panchajanya', 'Madhabi', 'Ajnatobas', 'Sojon Badiyar Ghat', 'Raktakarabi', 'Bikele Bhorer Shorshe Phool', 'Dream Dream', 'Gora', 'Choturanga' 'Ek Mancha Ek Jibon' etc. etc. etc. I also watched the Russian play 'To Save Kammerunker Pushkin' at Academy Of Fine Arts on 3rd June 2016 and the French play 'Duras Résistante' again at Academy Of Fine Arts on 5th June 2016. Here is a shot from the Russian play :
I was associated with Bratya Basu's theatre group called 'Bratyojon' from 2009 to 2010 and we used to perform 'RuddhaSangeet' in front of packed halls everywhere. The play was based on the life of the legendary Rabindrasangeet singer George Biswas. The role was played by Debshankar Haldar. It was my life's first theatre. I had a small role in that play. The experience was awesome. We used to have whole night long rehearsals at Academy Of Fine Arts. We used to go to various districts in West Bengal to perform this play. We also performed in all the major auditoriums in Calcutta. We also went to Bhopal and New Delhi to perform. Then due to some unavoidable circumstances I left the group. I really respect those people who have dedicated their lives to theatre. I really love those people who are passionate and crazy about theatre. Looking forward to see more amazing plays in the future...
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