Badal Sircar
Badal Sircar | |
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Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship |
Sudhindra Sircar (15 July 1925 - 13 May 2011), also known as Badal Sarkar, was an influential Indian dramatist and theatre director, most known for his anti-establishment plays during the
He was awarded the
Early life and education
Badal Sircar, whose real name was 'Sudhindra Sarkar', was born in
Career
While working as a town planner in India, England and Nigeria, he entered theatre as an actor, moved to direction, but soon started writing plays, starting with comedies. Badal Sirkar did experiments with theatrical environments such as stage, costumes and presentation and established a new genre of theatre called "Third Theatre".[11] In Third Theatre approach, he created a direct communication with audience and emphasised on expressionist acting along with realism. He started his acting career in 1951, when he acted in his own play, Bara Trishna, performed by Chakra, a theatre group.
Eventually still employed in Nigeria, he wrote his landmark play Ebong Indrajit (And Indrajit) in 1963, which was first published and performed in 1965 and catapulted him into instant fame, as it captured "the loneliness of post-Independence urban youth with dismaying accuracy". He followed them with plays like Baaki Itihaash (Remaining History) (1965), Pralap (Delirium) (1966), Tringsha Shatabdi (Thirtieth Century) (1966), Pagla Ghoda (Mad Horse) (1967), Shesh Naai (There's No End) (1969), all performed by Sombhu Mitra's Bohurupee group.[1][2]
In 1967, he formed the "Shatabdi" theatre group, and the first production he directed was Ebang Indrajit in 1967, a play about three people – Amal, Bimal, Kamal and a loner Indrajit. In the next five years of its existence the troupe performed several of his plays and had a profound impact on contemporary theatre, especially after 1969 when it started performing plays both indoors and outside amidst people, and evolved the angan manch (courtyard stage) and inspired by the direct communication techniques of
Though he continued to hold his job till 1975, as a playwright he rose to prominence in the 1970s and was one of the leading figures in the revival of street theatre in Bengal. He revolutionised
His plays reflected the atrocities that prevailed in the society, the decayed hierarchical system and were socially enlightening. He is a proponent of the "Third theatre" movement that stood ideologically against the state. Third theatre involved street plays, with actors being attired no differently than the audience. Also the formal bindings of the
Sircar directed his last play in 2003, and after that his movements were restricted after a road accident, but even many years later till 2011 he continued performing at play readings and writing new works like adapting William Shakespeare's Macbeth, two stories by Graham Greene and a novel, History of Love.[18]
Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi awarded the prestigious 'Ammannur Puraskaram' in 2010 for his lifetime achievements in Indian Theatre. The award was presented to him by Girish Karnad during the inaugural function of 3rd edition of International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK)
Death
Sarkar was diagnosed with
Awards and recognition
Sarkar was awarded the prestigious
The "Tendulkar Mahotsav" held at the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Pune in October 2005, organised by director Amol Palekar to honour playwright Vijay Tendulkar, was inaugurated with the release of a DVD and a book on the life of Badal Sircar.[20]
In July 2009, to mark his 85th birthday, a five-day-long festival titled Badal Utsava as tribute to him was organised by several noted theatre directors.[21] He was offered the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2010, which he declined, stating that he is already a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, which is the biggest recognition for a writer.[22]
In media
Sarkar is the subject of two documentaries, one directed by filmmaker and critic, Amshan Kumar,[23] and another A Face in the Procession by Sudeb Sinha, which was shot over two years.
Legacy
Badal Sircar influenced a number of film directors, theatre directors as well as writers of his time. Film director Mira Nair in an interview mentioned, "For me, Kolkata was a formative city while growing up.... I learned to play cricket in Kolkata, but more than anything, I learned to read Badal Sircar and watch plays written by him for street theatre. "[24] To Kannada director and playwright, Girish Karnad, Sircar's play Ebong Indrajit taught him fluidity between scenes, while as per theatre director-playwright Satyadev Dubey, "In every play I've written and in every situation created, Indrajit dominates." To Actor-director Amol Palekar, "Badalda opened up new ways of expression."[25] Recently (2013), a newly established cultural group, Maniktala Kolpokatha has started their theatrical career paying homage to the great play writer, staging "Ballavpurer Roopkatha". To the group, it is one of the plays that is not often staged in the Kolkata Theatre Circuit, and has all the spices of love, laughter and fear.
List of plays
- Ebong Indrajit(And Indrajit) (1963)
- Basi Khabar
- Baaki Itihaash (Remaining History) (1965)
- Pralap (Delirium) (1966)
- Tringsha Shatabdi (Thirtieth Century) (1966)
- Pagla Ghoda (Mad Horse) (1967)
- Shesh Naai (There's No End) (1969)
- Spartacus
- “Ram, Shyam, Jadu”
- Prastava
- Michhil (Procession)
- Bhoma
- Solution X
- Baropishima
- Saara Raattir
- Baro Pisima
- Kabi Kahini
- Manushe Manushe
- Hottomalar oparey
- Bollovpurer rupkatha
- Sukhapathya bharoter itihash(Indian History Made Easy)
- Gondi (adaptation from 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' by Bertolt Brecht)
- Nadite Dubiye Dao (Adaptation from 'We come to the river' by Edward Bond)
- Sinri
- bagh
- Ka Cha Ta Ta Pa (A satire)
- Bagala Charit Manas
- Ore Bihanga
- Dwirath
- Manushe Manushe
- Janmavumi Aaj (A poetry Monaz)
- Mara-Saad
- Choruivati (An adaptation from "Picnic in the Battlefield" by Fernando Arrabal)
Works
- The Third Theatre. Pub. Sircar, 1978
- The changing language of Theatre (Azad memorial lectures). Pub. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), 1982.
Plays in translation
- Evam Indrajit: Three-act Play. tr. by ISBN 0-19-560312-5.
- Three plays : Procession, Bhoma, Stale news. tr. by Samik Bandyopadhyay. Seagull. 1983.
- Beyond the Land of Hattamala & Scandal in Fairyland. tr. by Suchanda Sarkar. Seagull Books, 2003 . ISBN 81-7046-091-3.
- Two Plays: Indian History Made Easy, Life of Bagala, tr. by Subhendu Sarkar. OUP, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-806549-4.
- Pagala Ghoda:tr.in Marathi by Amol Palekar
See also
- Theatre in India
References
- ^ Live Mint. 3 February 2010.
- ^ Indian Express. 30 August 2004.
- ^ "A tribute to Badal Sircar". The Times of India. 19 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
- ^ "Drama of the Indian theatre journey". Financial Express. 17 September 2006.
- ^ "Drama between the lines". Financial Express. 28 January 2007.
- ^ Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards Archived 23 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine Sangeet Natak Akademi website.
- ^ "The theatre of Badal Sircar".
- ^ "GB pays tribute to Badal Sircar, the revolutionary voice of Bengal's theatre".
- ^ Mustard memories: Stage On & Off The Telegraph.
- ^ Badal Sircar Profile at Indiaprofile
- ISBN 0-87745-961-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-231-14424-7.
- ISBN 81-208-0981-5.
- ISBN 0-521-58822-7.
- ISBN 0-415-26087-6.
- ISBN 81-269-0655-3.
- ISBN 81-241-0870-6.
- ^ "At 86, Badal Sircar frenziedly writes, reads plays". siliconindia.com. 12 March 2011.
- Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund.
- ^ "He moulded Nihalani, Dubey, Palekar and Deshpande". Indian Express. 4 October 2005. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013.
- ^ "A tribute to Badal Sircar". The Times of India. 19 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
- ^ "Look who declined Padma Bhushan this year: two giants of art, literature". Indian Express. 9 February 2010.
- ^ "Charmed by celluloid". The Hindu. 3 March 2011.
- ^ "Why Rani, Abhishek lost out on Namesake". Rediff.com Movies. 23 March 2007.
- ^ "Badal rises once more". Mint. 11 March 2011.
Bibliography
- Jain, Kirti. Badal Sircar: Search for a Language of Theatre. New Delhi: Niyogi Books, 2016, 460 pages, ISBN 9789383098965.
- Katyal, Anjum. Badal Sircar: Towards a Theatre of Conscience (A Series on Contemporary Indian Playwrights). New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 2015, 308 pages, ISBN 9789351503705.
- Kundu, Manujendra. So Near, Yet So Far: Badal Sircar's Third Theatre. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2016, 324 pages, ISBN 9780199464777.
- Roy, Pinaki. "The First Man of the Third Theatre: Badal Sircar". Insights into Indian English Fiction and Drama. Ed. Nawale, A. New Delhi: Access-Authors Press, 2012 (ISBN 978-81-921254-3-5), pp. 164–81.
- Roy, Pinaki. “Crusader against Hegemonies: A Brief Study of Badal Sircar". Contemporary Indian Drama in English: Trends and Issues. Ed. Sarkar, J. New Delhi: Delta Book World, 2013 (ISBN 978-81-926244-0-2). pp. 23–42.
- Dasgupta Anjan, Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit: Issues of Writing, Reading and Narrativity. An Absurdist Celebration of plotlessness, edited by Jaydeep Sarkar, New Delhi: Delta Publication, 2013, ISBN 9788192624402.