Bhubaneswar: The third day of the ongoing five-day-long ‘Natya Lahari’, organised by city-based cultural organisation Bidyakanak Srujjananusthan at Bhanjakala Mandap in Bhubaneswar, was divided in two sessions on Wednesday.
At 10 am, a session titled ‘Alochana Mala’ started and it lasted till 6 pm. It turned out to be a rare treat as stalwarts of Odia theatre from across the state participated and walked down memory lane, sharing the ups and downs of their artistic journeys.
The session was graced by eminent theatre personalities including Ramchandra Mishra, Ramesh Prasad Panigrahi, Manmath Kumar Satpathy, Niladri Bhushan Harichandan, Panchanan Dash, Ramaraman Padhy, Mihir Kumar Meher, Hemendra Kumar Mohapatra, Bijay Kumar Satpathy, Sanghamitra Mishra, Nabin Kumar Parida and Samar Mudali.
They talked about how they got attracted to theatre, how their artistic journey started, what are the best plays they have written, directed and watched and how the theatre has evolved over the years.
As they were speaking about their experiences, a mixed bag of young theatre artistes, theatre enthusiasts, theatre lovers, college students and common audiences listened to them with rapt attention.
Veteran theatre personality Hemendra Mohapatra from Balasore heaped praise on Bidyakanak Srujjananusthan for providing a platform to senior theatre stalwarts to open their hearts and share stories that they had kept close to their hearts all these years.
“Bidyakanak Srujjananusthan may not be long in the tooth as an organisation, yet what it did was praiseworthy. In the coming days, such programmes should be the order of the day so that the present generation can get to know about the challenges they faced in their artistic journeys,” he said.
Striking the same chord, eminent playwright Ram Chandra Mishra from Nayagarh said the endeavour will definitely have impact on younger lot.
“What I shared with the audience was straight from the horse’s mouth. My theatre journey started when I was mere a child. In my school days, I acted in ‘Daka Bangala’, and thereafter there was no looking back. So far I have written 14 full-length plays, another 10-12 plays were published in the ‘Sahakar’ magazine,” he said.
According to him, “Theatre is a huge medium in forming a culturally-rich society. A play has the power to strike a chord with both the literate and illiterate, gravitating them towards better lives. So younger generations should take a leaf out of the veterans’ books, not just to save the form but to carry the art form to a new height.”
Veteran theatre actor and director Mr Nabin Kumar Parida hailed the initiative, calling it ‘first of its kind in the state’.
“The programme ‘Alochana Mala’ was a meeting of minds. Many good things happened in this sessions. Practitioners, researchers, professors and pure theatre lovers gathered under one roof. It brought an opportunity for us to meet one another after a long gap. We had an opportunity to interact with each other. And, the youngsters had a ringside view of our struggles, milestones and journeys,” he added.
He also suggested that if the speeches are compiled into a book, it will be a treasure trove for the next generation.
Young theatre director-actor and founder of ‘Samarat Sie Kalara Pujari’, Sharat Samrat said, “The attempt is praiseworthy. We had an opportunity to know our seniors from close quarters. Such initiative is like food for thought. I hope programmes like this become a regular feature.”
For the youngsters in the auditorium, the experience was priceless.
When asked, Narayan Jena, a PG student of BJB Autonomous College, said, “All the theatre veterans who spoke today are our ideals. Had I missed this programme, it would have been a great loss. I have personally learnt a lot from them. I feel the insights I gained will be helpful in doing my future research on Odia theatre.”
Dr Mrutyunjay Rath was the anchor of the evening.
