A revolution of theatrical proportions. If there ever was a time when the entire India was one, you all have to agree, it was at the time of the long and arduous struggle for our freedom. Everyone participated. From the child who would accompany the pickets and the rallies shouting slogans in his high pitched voice, to the senescent elders who sat at home next to their faithful radios anxiously wondering when Gandhi would break his fast. But, "what so dramatic about that?" you may ask, "Thats there in every revolution and in any country's freedom struggle." To which I reply, "We are Indians. Nothing we do can ever be ordinary. It's always Dramatic!"
Song is for the musician, dance is for the dancer and art is for the painter. But theatre, is for everyone. Theatre has always been regarded as an elevated form of entertainment which could draw the attention of the masses and the elites. In the early 1900s, before the advent of the idiot box and its elder brother film, people used to watch a lot of plays. Plays used to go on for 8-10 hrs into the night. Wandering minstrels and histrions used to travel from one eager village to another with their plays which used to provide happiness and relief to the tired and oppressed masses of India. As the years passed and the freedom struggle to overthrow the audacious colonialists reached a fever pitch, the suppression of nonconformist views was constantly quelled by the British. The people of India found ways and means of uniting inspite of all the subjugation.
One of the ways our people devised to rally their countrymen against the British was theatre. These uneducated minstrels would wander, spreading the message of revolution and lighting a inextinguishable flame through laughs and tears."Between 1860 and 1880, the political theatre scene was extremely strong in the rest of the country. Neeldarpan', a Bengali play, in 1860, sparked off this phase. Theatre mobilised thousands to join the freedom struggle. But we can't be too sure of what did happen as there is very little documentation," says theatre critic Sadanand Menon.
These plays and dramas performed mostly in front of rural audiences were mostly performed by theatre companies who dedicated their entire lives to their art. These companies consisted almost entirely of uneducated but highly learned individuals who were not satisfied just with roars of applause from the audience. They wanted to send them home with a message. They wanted to tell them that their country needs them. But this message freely expressed without the authorities promptly suppressing any sort of negative propaganda against the British Raj.
If one examines the songs and characters of a 'company naataka', there is a very subtle but undeniable undercurrent of contempt for the British. While heroes sing their songs to the tunes of mellifluous raagas of Indian classical music, while the villains used to sing their songs to the tunes of English ballads and adagios. While the hero was draped in the most exquisite Indian attire, the villain had on the most ridiculous looking western clothes. For example, I was a part of a very old company naataka caled 'Sadarame'. In this play, I played the hero, a prince. You can see me in the photo below dressed in elegant Indian panche and other accoutrement and the picture below that you can see the villain looking absolutely ludicrous in his ill fitting western clothes. When I asked the director why this was so, she replied, "We used to love laughing at the British, but it was all the more exciting because they didn't get the joke."
Now wouldn't you agree that this was indeed a revolution of theatrical proportion? I would like to end with a message to all of you. Films, serials, plays, etc are not just about entertainment. It can change the way we think and the way we act. Theatre and cinema have the power to topple governments. It all depends on what we choose to watch. Don't choose to only watch the movie with the most number of kisses or the movie with most number of topless scenes. Be responsible! Be different!
KEEP IT DRAMATIC!
