Uttam Kumar, whose birth centenary is currently underway, was seen pushing a
hawker’s cart along the lanes and the alleys of the lower-middle-class neighbourhoods of suburban Calcutta, peddling everyday necessities and lip-syncing to “Nilambala chha anna” in the 1957 Bengali film, Prithibi Amare Chay. The playwright, Santanu Majumder, takes up this image as a metaphor for life in refugee settlements that sprang up on the outskirts of Calcutta after the Partition of 1947 and chronicles the highs and the lows of the 1960s, the 70s and the 80s, in Nilambala Chha Anna, a play that Angan Belgharia is currently staging.
Such plays are rare. Life in refugee settlements, referred to as ‘colony’, has hardly been portrayed in Bengali theatre. Besides underlining the struggle for existence, Majumder trains his eye on the politics of the Left, which found a strong support base in these terrains that also fostered Naxalite elements and, eventually, celebrated the coming of the Left Front to power. The scenes are true to life, and the emotions raw and real.
Angan Belgharia, with Avi Sengupta at the helm, has turned Nilambala Chha Anna into a captivating drama spanning over two hours. Sengupta utilises the group’s limited acting resources. He also ropes in seasoned actors like Sangita Chowdhury (matriarch) and Samaresh Basu (street hawker of Bihari origin) and young ones like Raju Dhar, who steer the production smoothly along the rough topography of life.
Debabrata Maity designs a light stage with off-white clothes predominating as a material. The light designer, Samar-Sadhan Parui, highlights them from the sides and the back to create fascinating visuals, including the ones illuminating the political slogans. The hawker’s cart, with a large box inside, sometimes doubles up as a vehicle for ferrying runaway men out of the police’s reach and also a makeshift stage to address mass gatherings. A brilliant idea, one must admit. Sengupta’s ability to tug at the heartstrings shows but the overwhelming sentimentality that characterises Angan’s productions gives way to a politically engrossing narrative, making Nilambala Chha Anna a compelling watch.
