Kolkata will see stalwarts of stage coming into town – make sure you have booked your tickets.
Jana Natya Manch, Makarand & Gulzar: Three Reasons Why This Weekend Is Every Theatre Lover's Dream
Ten-Second Takeaway
Guftugu With Gulzar
Gulzar will be launching his new books Pantabhatey and Pluto {which have been translated to Bengali} this Saturday, August 26 at Nandan. The book will be launched by poet Shankha Ghosh and filmmaker Sandip Roy. Gulzar was introduced to Bengali literature through the works of Rabindranath Tagore and his book Pantabhatey revolves around personalities he met during his creative career like Satyajit Ray, Kishore Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Uttam Kumar and Mahasweta Devi, among others. Pluto is a collection of his poems.
After the launch there will be an adda session between Gulzar, city poet Srijato and Shantanu Moitra. Simultaneously an exhibition about Gulzar will be held through the weekend as well.
It’ll be a great opportunity to find out about Gulzar’s interaction with Bengal and culture specifically.
When: August 26 at 5.30pm.
Where: Nandan cinema
Buy tickets here.
Jana Natya Manch
Padatik and Delhi’s amazing theatre group Jana Natya Mancha bring you a weekend full of stories, film and poetry. Divided into three sections, the first will focus on voices for Palestine; the second is a play about violence against women in India and the third focuses on Rohith Vemula’s last letter.
On August 26, 6 pm onwards, there will be a performance of Kuchh Nazmein Philisteen Ke Naam, a reading of poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Safi Abdi, Mahmoud Darwish and Nizar Qabbani. The performance will start with a song on Palestine by Faiz Ahmed Faiz and a poem by Somalian poet, Safi Abdi. At the centerpiece of the performance, you have Mahmoud Darwish’s work, Palestine’s best known poet who died last year. The reading takes place alongside a visual essay by Sherna Dastur.
Yeh Bhi Hinsa Hai was prepared by Janam in 2005, and focuses on the violence faced by women in this country. This 30-minute version has been updated since the Delhi Rape case in 2012. The performance is shown as a protest, united voices of all generations, sexes which stand up to misogyny and violence. This will be performed at 11 am on August 27.
The series will be concluded by the Last Letter, a play on Rohith Vemula’s final letter. It will be interspersed by three actors with poetry. The text isn’t dramatised, and the simple reading and juxtaposing of texts makes one ask some very pertinent questions.
Kolkata has always been a place to critique social structures as a community and create more innovative movements through art and culture. If you are interested in taking some time out of daily, mundane life to experience harsher realities of life discussed through art and poetry, this is definitely somewhere you should be.
When: August 26 at 6pm; August 27 at 12.30pm
Where: Padatik Theatre, 6/7 AJC Boase Road.
Check here for more information.
Makarand Deshpande In Sir Sir Sarla
This is the first time well-travelled play Sir Sir Sarla will be shown in Kolkata. It’s directed by Makarand Deshpande, who has played notable supporting roles in films like Swades, Makdi and Sarfarosh. Deshpande has directed around 40 full length plays, and Sir Sir Sarla is among his most prominent work.
Where: G.D Birla Sabhagar
When: August 27, 7 pm onwards
Buy your tickets here.
