Living in nostalgia is one of the bad habits of Bengali artists, but Kathakriti’s revival of Mohit Chattopadhyay’s Chandraloke Agnikanda has a more substantial purpose — to prove the play’s contemporary relevance on its 40th anniversary. It was Chattopadhyay’s fourth script, written before he became a big name, but containing all the features of his early, so-called absurdist phase (‘so-called’ because he admitted the superficial debts but rejected the philosophy). So, with major characters going unnamed as just the Chairman, Doctor or Inspector, the anti-realistic symbolic treatment stood out, partly poetic expressionism and partly psychoanalytical dream. The present director, Sanjib Ray, succeeds in making his point because, with hindsight, Chandraloke uncannily anticipates some of Bengal’s problems that erupted within a few years. A derelict aristocratic household in the countryside, the love affair of the ghost of a youth with a young woman, police repression — these subjects turned very real soon afterwards, and arguably still are, even as metaphor in the case of the ghosts of a wasted generation. As the Inspector, Goutam Sadhukhan has a commanding stage presence. The only problem is the believability quotient of a spectre that looks and behaves like flesh and blood. In all other ways, Kathakriti pays homage to Nakshatra’s 1967 production directed by Shyamal Ghosh, to the extent of requesting Nabhendu Sen to design the set.

Ananda Lal

Dominated by clichés

The Spanish film-maker, Carlos Saura, shot his musical, Iberia, based on the composition of Isaac Albeniz, blending the flavour of flamenco and ballet. The modern audience of dance looks for new creations based on the traditional classical forms. Unfortunately, most of the classical performances these days rely on clichés.The Bharatnatyam recital on May 28 at Sisir Mancha by Anita Mallick and her students was one such example. The programme began with a ganapati todyam set to ragam nata and talam adi. This was followed by another todyam, which became somewhat monotonous. Mallick, in her solo performance, brought out the nuances of the bhajan describing Rama. Tillana, the concluding item of the first half, pleased the audience the most, with its emphasis on classical footwork and abhinaya. Mallick showcased Rabindranritya in the second half. “Megh o Mallar” had dances accompanying poems and songs. But what could be the idea behind selecting only two songs and three poems? If the classical part was kept shorter, this could have been fleshed out better.

Sulagna Mukhopadhyay