Is there a potential killer lurking within all of us? If yes, how does its killer instinct get diffused? Which ecosystem fosters such violence? Can someone living under threat and getting marginalised develop a strong emotional attachment with the person equated with these menaces? Such disturbing issues come to the fore and Suman Sengupta’s reputation as one of the most sought-after playwright-directors of our times gets reinforced with Howrah-based Shilpi Sangha’s production, Baghnakh.
Based on a 1997 story by Jayanta Dey, Baghnakh is not a new play; it was staged under the Dwitiya Sattwa banner in 2010. Sengupta, working with a new set-up, revives and renews it with panache. The latest version was staged at Tapan Theatre on October 15. Sengupta designs a rather heavy, multi-layered set consisting of a middle-class apartment in cosmopolitan Calcutta, flanked by the entrance to the apartment, the road leading to it and a neighbourhood tea stall. The colour code for the décor is deliberately black and white, with cleverly manipulated spectral images pasted on it. This hint of the uncanny gets accentuated as the apartment dwellers — a teenager girl (Twisha Chakraborty) and her middle-aged parents (Kamal Chatterjee and Nandini Bhowmik) — are continually harassed by a neighbourhood ‘madman’ (Tanmoy Patra), who, egged on by local roughs (Niloy Bhattacharya, Atanu Chakraborty, Swapnojoy Ganguly), fantasises about the teenager being his wife and pounces on her whenever she steps out. The involvement of a local politician (Soumitra Basu), hand in glove with realty developers, and a friendly cop (Suman Paul), helps Sengupta craft complex power equations that push us to the edge and prompt
us to revolt.
Although rather heavy on the head, Baghnakh, running over 140 minutes, is propelled by Sengutpa’s ability to craft interconnected situations in realistic frames. Time and again, he refers to the deeper psychological ramifications as the girl keeps talking to a friend over a non-existent telephone. Among the ensemble cast, Chakraborty impresses hugely, with Chatterjee, Bhowmik, Paul and Shankar Ghosh, playing the empathetic tea stall owner, chipping in with competent portrayals.