India News | City Theatre Group Accuses Natl Theatre Festival Committee of Withdrawing Invite
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A Kolkata-based theatre group Friday accused the central committee involved in organising the Bharat Rang Mahotsav of withdrawing its invite to its play 'Titumir' on the peasant uprising in Bengal and penned by late thespian and Left ideologue Utpal Dutt.
Kolkata, Jan 20 (PTI) A Kolkata-based theatre group Friday accused the central committee involved in organising the Bharat Rang Mahotsav of withdrawing its invite to its play 'Titumir' on the peasant uprising in Bengal and penned by late thespian and Left ideologue Utpal Dutt.
Joyraj Bhattacharjee, the director of play who helms 'Paribartak' theatre group told PTI on Friday that the selection committee of the event had itself invited the 'Titumir' producers to stage it at the festival in the outstanding production category.
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The invite was, however, withdrawn after the video of the play was sent to the committee as sought by it, he claimed.
The Bengali play was written by Dutt, who was also a stage and film actor, playwright and a pioneering figure in modern theatre, in 1978 for his People's Little Theatre group.
The Bharat Rang Mahotsav is also called the National Theatre Festival. It is held annually by the acclaimed National School of Drama, New Delhi and showcases works of Indian theatre practitioners. Started in 1999, it now attracts international performers too.
Bhattacharya claimed that 'Paribartak' received a number of phone calls soon after the group received the invite from the Festival committee enquiring about the subject of the play and asked for sharing of the script.
"The committee even inquired if the play is anti-government and I replied it is anti-British government of pre-independent India. They then asked me to send a video of it but I said it can be done only after the January 17 show of the play in Kolkata. We sent the video accordingly soon after that show, but on January 18 we were informed that the invitation to stage 'Titumir' is withdrawn for not getting the video recording on time," he said.
Criticising the Festival committee, Bhattacharya, who is known for his liberal views, said "Ironically the festival theme this year is on unsung heroes and 'Titumir' is about a Muslim man who plays a crucial role in a peasant uprising in colonial Bengal.
"The play fits in the bill perfectly ... Obviously the arrow has hit the bull's eye," he added.
A NSD official when contacted said the invitation was withdrawn as the producers failed to submit the video of the play within the given time.
"Every entry has to be accompanied by a video of the play so that the selection committee can preview it. Unfortunately the producers of Titumir couldn't send that to us within the stipulated time. There was no other reason," the official added.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)