Dilip Guha, New Delhi: At the turn of the 20th century, Ashapurna Devi, a Jnanpeeth award-winning novelist, recorded the life stories of three generations of women in Bengal. Her literary collection depicts the nuanced situations faced by women in both rural and urban areas. Devi’s writing touches upon the conflicting expectations of women in contemporary Bengali society.
The first novel, published in 1964, unfolds the story of Satyavati, who was married off at the age of eight to uphold social norms. She is kept under strict surveillance and oppression by society’s Brahminical norms. However, Satyavati is strong in her decisions and unfailingly confident. She fights fiercely against the psychological violence and superstitious thinking of the family-dominated, aristocratic polygamous system.
Satyavati’s valiant efforts enable the third generation of women in her family to step forward with self-confidence. Through Satyavati, the writer exposes the double standards prevalent in Bengali society against the backdrop of anti-colonial struggles in pre-independent India. Devi also highlights the inner spaces shrouded and neglected by the larger-than-life political conflict and framing of women’s demands.
Recently, Delhi’s renowned theatre group Navapalli Natya Sansthan(NNS) staged a dramatization of her timeless novel ” Pratham Pratishruti ” at B C Pal Auditorium in Delhi, which brought the same situation to life and allowed the audience to relive it.
NNS has today won the coveted position of one of the leading theatre groups, for its concerted effort to enrich theatre in the Bengali language and to bring about theatre movement in the capital, by producing chiefly, high-quality literature-based productions in and outside Delhi, aesthetically executed with new theatrical experimentations.
The group always tries to furbish their productions with new theatrical innovations and experimentations and the play Pratham Pratishruti is one such bold attempt and the first of its kind thematically. Based on the first part of Ashapurna Devi’s epic trilogy, ” Pratham Pratishruti” is a full-length play directed by Biswajit Sinha and scripted by Soma Sinha and Biswajit Sinha, the play is woven chiefly depicts the story of a particular time, that has passed, but whose shadows still hover over our social system, highlighting gender-based discrimination and the narrowed outlook ingrained in our patriarchal society. They deeply research a topic for its social and universal significance before recreating it into a full-length stage presentation.
Ashapurna Devi managed to represent the voice of an entire culture despite facing countless adversities. Her writing captures the subtleties and enduring traditions with remarkable precision and insight.
This was revealed while talking to the director he said ”In a real sense, a celebration of Women’s Day this year, as a playwright-director, would be most appropriate if I put on boards the dramatic version of Ashapurna Devi’s magnum opus “Pratham Pratishruti”.
Seldom staged, she is the pioneer and most successful feminist writer, who through her character Satyavati, a homemaker, the very strong female character, not only raises her voice against all aspects of social life and social situation but tells us that revolution and protest start from home. This is my anguish against those who term her a mere “Kitchen Writer” he added
The play revolves around firebrand Satyabati who was given away in marriage at the tender age of eight, as per the social norms. At her marital home, Satyabati had to live with a cruel, insensitive, and spitfire mother-in-law, Elokeshi.
Satyabati’s husband, Nabakumar, could hardly raise his voice in the presence of his mother. But Satyabati was not one to demurely suffer her mother-in-law’s torment for long, and eventually, started protesting against the verbal and physical abuses. She, however, earned a degree of preponderance over her weak husband and managed to coax him to relocate to Kolkata for a white-collared job, for the sake of her children, Sadhan, Saral, and daughter Subarna’s education.
Thus, she accompanied her husband to the city, an act not in keeping with prevailing norms, which expected a wife to stay with her in-laws even if her husband was located elsewhere. Apparently, she was in full command of her life with Nabakumar. But finally, an incident ripped apart their conjugality. Elokeshi married off her granddaughter, Subarna, who had accompanied her father on a vacation to their ancestral village. When Satyabati came to know about it, she left her family and exiled herself to Kashi to spend the rest of her life.
The director has presented an outstanding play that perfectly blends stage, direction, and acting, captivating the audience with exceptional performances. Despite the play’s age, the director believes it remains contemporary in portraying relationships and the central mystery. The director aims to accurately convey its complex layers, highlighting the intricacies of human relationships and the choices that define us. His approach emphasizes engagement, inviting the audience to delve into the narrative’s depths. He believes that it is his responsibility to keep the audience fully absorbed.
In terms of performance Delhi’s renowned stage artist, Soma Sinha, delivered a remarkable performance as Satyabati, exhibiting her confidence and full involvement in the character. Similarly, Prodip Ganguly, a prominent figure in the theatre fraternity, excelled in his portrayal of Nabakumar, Satyabati’s husband. Ananya Datta played the role of Elokeshi in the play. Her facial expressions displayed love, greed, anger, and other emotions, perfectly portrayed a typical mother-in-law character and matched the flow of the play.
Satakshi, eight years old, played the role of Subarna, the daughter of Satyabati, and was quite impressive in her dialogues and performance. Her confrontation with her grandmother was particularly remarkable and noticeable. Subhajit, who portrayed Sadhan, and Atri, who played Saral, the sons of Satyabati, gave very shrewd performances. Other talented artists who were involved in the play were Tapas Chanda as Ramkali, Kalyan Ghosal as Mukunda, Shantomoy Roy as Nitai, Sutapa Ghosh Dastidar as Soudamini, Indrani Chakraborty as Khantobamni, Aloka Banerji as Dattaginni, and Suchismita Chowdhury as Napitbou. All of them played their roles outstandingly.
Biswajit’s performance in the background score with music was outstanding. The stagecraft by Biswajit Sinha, Sudip Biswas, and Supratik Biswas, with lighting by Gaurav Ganguly, costumes by Soma Sinha, and make-up by Abhijit Chakrabarti, captured the audience’s attention. It’s also worth mentioning that the songs by singers Moumita Kundu, Kaushiki Deb, Subhasish Ghosh, and Rajarshi Debray truly enhanced the entire play. This play ended with a message of social awareness and effectively conveyed the love and passion of the performers towards theatre.