Amal Chakraborty (Kundan Yolmo)

Siliguri, June 24: His panchali (song) is ready, but what Amal Chakraborty needs now is a new cast for the show.

“Apu and Durga have grown up and do not suit the roles anymore,” said Chakraborty referring to Samir Das and Shrishti Chakraborty who acted the brother-sister duo in his stage adaptation of Pather Panchali (Song of the Road).

The 65-year-old, who has been fighting Parkinson’s disease for more than a decade, made a comeback last year with the successful stage adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s novel, which had given birth to a film by the same name directed by Satyajit Ray over 50 years ago.

“We have started the hunt for child artists,” he added. “For Apu, we need a little boy, this high,” he showed with his hand in the air about three-and-half feet from the ground. “For Durga, we need a teenage girl.” The real challenge for Chakraborty is to keep his panchali and his theatre group Navdal going.

Along with wife Ratna, Chakraborty is planning a series of shows, including a special one on September 12 — Bandyopadhyay’s birth anniversary — but is not sure if it will actually happen.

“We don’t have money,” Chakraborty said. “Staging a show would cost about Rs 10,000. How would we raise it?”

Chakraborty is also worried about Navdal. “How long can the actors go on working without being paid at all?” he asked. Pather Panchali was staged three times in Siliguri and once at a festival in Natya Akademi in Calcutta. “People just could not believe that he could have written and directed a play in such a physical state,” said Ratna.

Paschim Banga Natya Akademi had presented Chakraborty with a life-time achievement award for his one-act plays in 2000.