The cast of Homa Pakhi. Picture by Aranya Sen

Past blends into present and the demarcation between real and psychological space blurs, as Soumitra Chatterjee marries music and art, dance and dialogue to portray the angst of characters coping with the problems of a progressive society clinging to the ragged remains of its traditions.

?Am I a psycho?Am I a bird girl?? That?s the refrain in Soumitra?s new play, Homa Pakhi. Written by London-based psychiatrist Dr Amit Ranjan Biswas, the play revolves around Soumitra, a dynamic professor of sociology, and his student, a consulting-psychiatrist played by daughter Poulami.

On the brink of divorce and shattered by the suicide of a patient, Poulami is a nervous wreck. She starts identifying with her patients and finds herself plunging into depression. On a visit to home, in Calcutta, Poulami goes to her professor, with whom she had always shared a special bond, but finds him in a world of his own. It is finally he who manages to draw her out of her depression, even as he admits to suffering from a psychological disorder that causes severe mood swings.

?I had seen a small play of Biswas?s called Maya and liked the use of varied mediums. So I asked him to pen this script in the same form for me,? says the veteran actor who has otherwise written most of his stage productions. ?The use of music, dance and visuals does break the monotony of dialogues of what is a very cerebral play. But I also believe that such interludes should be used in theatre. The use of associated mediums broaden the range of the play.?

Nazia, the Pakistani-British girl who killed herself unable to bear the contradictory pulls of modern British society, is played by Anandi Ghosh (film-maker Goutam Ghose?s daughter). She appears as a symbol, with fluid dance movements taking over from dialogue and narration to express the pathos of a disintegrating soul.

?There is a message in the play, the message to be strong in times of a crisis, the message to be a sympathetic human being,? says Poulami.

Which links up with the title Homa Pakhi. ?I came across the term in Ramkrishna Kathamrita. Homa pakhi is a mythical bird that lives high in space and also lays its egg up there. The egg hatches as it falls to the ground, but before it touches earth, when the baby finds itself falling, it begins its flight above. The sense is that no sorrow, no problem of the earth touches the homa pakhi,? reveals Soumitra, who has designed the sets himself.

A few steps leading to a raised platform creates the sense of the upper floor of a home with a makeshift bed and table. This is both Poulami?s refuge from the torment of a haunting depression and the battleground for Soumitra and his wife (played by Alokananda Ray).

The play has music by Partha Sengupta and recitation by Soumitra and Deepankar De. The songs have been sung by Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta. Homa Pakhi will be staged at Madhusudan Mancha on August 4.

Poulomi Banerjee