Powerful Bengali Play ‘Simlir Golpota’ Raises Awareness on Mental Health and Social Apathy

Dilip Guha, New Delhi: Srijanee, a socio-cultural association and a renowned theatre group of Delhi NCR staged the Bengali play ‘Simlir Golpota ‘ (the unfinished tale of Simli) recently at Muktidhara Auditorium on the occasion of Fourth Bengali Natto-Mela (Fest) organized by Bengal Association NewDelhi. Bengal Association works for the preservation and promotion of Bengali language, literature, art & culture.

Since its inception in 1997, The Group Srijanee always tries to raise social issues through their plays, and bagged prizes for their productions also. The play “Simlir Golpota” is one such story written and directed by Avijit Banerjee, a well-known actor and director of the Delhi stage depicts the apathy of a mentally retarded girl and her hapless father.

The theme is not new but was presented with great emotions and moved the audience. ….Father, who is solely dependent upon occupational therapist Arjun and believes him blindfolded, can take care of his daughter “Simli”.

An unpleasant incident shakes him when a nightmarish incident takes place. He came to know about the incident when the doctor told him his daughter is pregnant. He alleged the heinous act of physical dishonor committed by Arjun. The father was shattered and further abused by the alleged person with his influential father who threatened him to withdraw the Police complaint.

Simli’s poor father was very disappointed and decided to kill his own daughter and the therapist. The next morning when his police friend arrived at his home, the nightmare was over. It was only a dream. He has not killed Simli and the therapist. Poor father was very happy to know that Simli was safe and playing outside the house. But the threat remains… And remained strong, the system continues to be unresponsive and society unchanged.

Speaking on the occasion The director Avijit Banerjee says “We are all socially responsible towards this kind of persons, who are mentally retarded as per medical science, but sorry to tell that no-body stood to protect their innocent lives from the human hyenas’ crimes”. In terms of performance by the artists, they not only resemble the actual people but also perform highly well.

Arnab Saha plays the role of Sukumar (father) in the outstanding ovation. Mithu Dey Das played the role of a spastic teenager Simli (daughter). Her facial expressions, posture, and gesture expressed a real spastic character. Her dialogue delivery, emotions, and facial expressions were excellent. She has got a nice stage presence too, especially noticed in the post’s dilemma. Her energy level during the whole play was fantastic and the voice modulation made the character live.

Another well-known artist P Chatterjee played the role of Police officer and friend of Sukumar was quite impressive and his dialogues filled the gaps. Debmalya Banerjee, as Arjun’s father, gave a very shrewd performance. Tanima Roy, The governess performed her motherly role outstandingly. In the background score with music, Khushi Roy’s performance was outstanding.

Other artists namely Soumya Majumder (Trainer Arjun), and Sonali Banerjee (Doctor) performed well. The stagecraft, lighting, costume, make-up, etc…captured the eyes of the audience diligently. This play culminated with a message of social awareness. As the problem shown in the Play is not yet eradicated from our society, more shows of this nature in different languages are needed to awaken our society.

It is worth mentioning that another play of the festive eve was “Surjer Antim Kiran Theke Surjer Prothom Kiran Porjonto” which lends an impressive Bengali drama based on a powerful storyline staged by “Theatre Platform” well appreciated by the houseful audience.