He has a loud booming voice that can be heard from the farthest corner on an open ground. Many regular jatra-goers often compare him with Arun Dasgupta, a leading artiste in Calcutta.
After Arun died, many jatra groups would hire Chandu to do his roles in their palas. After over 30 years in jatra, Chandu can easily walk into the shoes of his idol, Arun Dasgupta.
Chandu is a star of the jatra stage in Howrah, who has bagged innumerable best actor awards in competitions. Those who compete against Gunjan Natyam, Chandu’s amateur jatra group, have to step back, as the first place will undoubtedly be reserved for him. Jatra runs in the family and Chandu followed the footsteps of his elder brothers and sisters, who also worked in jatras. “All my elder brothers and sisters were jatra artistes. In our family, the women, too, were allowed to act in jatras. My elder brother Santosh Dasgupta started Gunjan Natyam some 32 years back. Two years after the group started, I joined as an actor,” said Chandu.
He has acted in several productions of the group, apart from running the group himself. The director of the group is his guru, Rabin Chakraborty. “We always did the jatras written by Bhairav Dutta because his script was very popular among common people,” said Chandu. He started his acting career with Rakta Sakkhar. Later he has acted and directed jatras like Sapurer Meye, Achal Paisa, Ma Mati Manush, Ghumao Tumi Piya, Meghnad Badh Kavya and many others. “I had played the role of Ravana in Meghnad Badh Kavya. We used to do this pala some 10 years back.
Today, however, such mythological productions are not so popular among people. Nowadays, the audience prefers social plays that focus on issues that they can relate to,” said Chandu. His latest production, Satyam Shivam Sundaram is one such jatra that focuses on the youth of today who care less for their parents once they are settled. Chandu plays the role of a security guard at a factory. When asked, Chandu can enact large portions of his script, with emotions. “We have completed 27 palas of Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram and will be doing more. The jatra has won accolades and Chandu has bagged many best actor awards for his role. “Last year, I won the best actor award at a competition at Phiyegachhi, Jagatballavpur,” said Chandu. Many such best actor awards have come Chandu’s way in the 30 years that he has worked in jatras.
Apart from working with his own group, Chandu also directs jatras for other groups. “Direction is a difficult task because I also have to edit palas. At competitions, we have to shorten palas to three hours, that is the minimum time required for a jatra, unlike theatre that can be done in 40 minutes,” said Chandu.
After Bhairav Dutta, Chandu now uses scripts by Utpal Roy. Women are now acting in jatras, unlike the old times when men played the roles of women. “We do not have women members in our group, but we hire them when needed for a pala. There are many professional jatra actresses who come to work in the villages,” said Chandu. He has also done away with the singer, Bibek, and gets his actors to sing on stage. “A jatra has at least 12 to 14 songs, so I train my actors to sing to save the cost of hiring a Bibek,” said Chandu. While the city and town have done away with jatra, the villages in Bengal have still held on to it strongly. “When we go for shows to the villages in Howrah, there is a huge audience and people stay up all night to watch the shows,” said Chandu.
MORE ABOUT CHANDU DASGUPTA
- DoB: 1958
- Born in: Howrah
- Education: Class V
- Family: Wife, two sons, and a daughter (married)
- Loves: Travelling, adda
- Hates: Politics
Dalia Mukherjee
