A Trinamul MP bent down to touch a BJP MP's feet on Sunday, an act that might have been treated as political blasphemy in today's Bengal had it not been for the spontaneity of the reverence and the stature of its recipient.
When Arpita Ghosh, the Trinamul MP from Balurghat, honoured Paresh Rawal, the BJP MP from Ahmedabad, she was more the theatre artiste seeking a thespian's blessings than a leader of a ruling party that defines the us-versus-them culture of Bengal politics.
The back story to what happened at Rabindra Sadan on Sunday dates back to when the ongoing National Theatre Festival was being planned. It was Arpita who had proposed bringing Rawal and his Hindi play Krishan Vs Kanhaiya to the festival, a suggestion quickly endorsed by minister and fellow theatre actor-director Bratya Basu.
Basu, who chairs the state-run Minerva Repertory that has organised the nine-day theatre festival, described Rawal's presence at the event as 'a conscious decision'. Arpita said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had 'praised us' for inviting the celebrated actor with an outstanding body of work spanning films and theatre.
'We wanted to have artistes of national repute and Paresh Rawal's is one such name. I called him and he didn't pause to think twice before checking his schedule and giving us his date. It was an invitation from one theatre artiste to another that was accepted and honoured. That is how we see each other and art is one area that should be kept open. We want it to be free of any political barrier,' Arpita added.
Bratya said an artiste like Rawal deserved to be seen beyond his political affiliation. 'Whether he is BJP or not, it doesn't matter because I believe he is a great actor. We try to keep art separate from politics and it was a conscious decision to include Paresh Rawal in the festival to convey a message of positivity.'
This is a new line emerging from the Trinamul C-team in Mamata's Bengal, where the merging of political and cultural lines has been complete.
Rawal, who happens to be Prime Minister Narendra Modi's favourite actor, too didn't miss the chance to talk about 'looking beyond politics' in matters of art and culture. 'I am very thankful to the state government for inviting me. Congratulations to them for thinking beyond party lines.... There should be a bridge for good things to happen and when we have an artistes' community that is more than willing to perform that task, it should be welcome,' he told Metro in the green room.
In Krishan Vs Kanhaiya, a stage version of the 2012 film OMG - Oh My God!, the thespian plays a Gujarati businessman who drags God to a court of law. 'Party ki baat jab hoti hai toh hoti hai (When you talk about the party, that's okay).... But in Parliament too, I have a lot of friends from the TMC like Saugata Ray ji, (Sudip) Bandyopadhyay ji and Arpita ji. We come, we meet and we share a cup of coffee. They always love and admire me and I am grateful for their love and affection,' he said.
Rawal called himself 'a big big fan' of Bengali theatre. 'There are stalwarts like Shombhu Mitra, his wife Tripti ji, Arun Mukhopadhyay, Utpal da (Dutt)... such an honour for me to come and perform here.'
Bengal's theatre community has been fraught with friction lately, with Bratya and Arpita quitting Natyaswajan a fortnight ago. Before them, Manish Mitra had exited Natyaswajan, followed by director Debesh Chattopadhyay, who resigned from Natya Akademi, Natyaswajan and Minerva by citing his failure to 'fit into the system'.
