Stills from Nagor Kotoal staged at Rabindra Sadan, Kolkata in 2004
'Nagor Kotwal', the play originally in Hindi has been staged time and again by innumerable artists with their own personal touch. The story is relevant to every era of humankind and maybe till time immemorial its relevance will never fade.
The day the king or any head of a State exists with a single subject and a woman to throw in a third angle to the story the play will be staged. However, Nandinik wanted to stage this particular play at Kolkatta in Bengali so that the flavour of Hindi can be felt and appreciated by the traditional as well as the open minded Bengalees.
The format of the play was designed specially for the Bengalee stage by introducing the role of 'Bachika' which was loosely modeled on the Chhatisgarhi style of storytelling. Since Bachika was somewhat close to the Jatra characters, which are loud, melodramatic, touch the very soul with their emotional monologues but also has the power to make the audience transfixed by transporting them into a different world. The world looks alien superficially but on a closer look if one changes their dress, manners, speech, etc. they will resemble the characters of today, maybe even the elite corporate world.
Over and above, the story is about power play and today man and woman alike only want to assert their ambitions and selfish motive.
The format of the play was designed specially for the Bengalee stage by introducing the role of 'Bachika' which was loosely modeled on the Chhatisgarhi style of storytelling. Since Bachika was somewhat close to the Jatra characters, which are loud, melodramatic, touch the very soul with their emotional monologues but also has the power to make the audience transfixed by transporting them into a different world. The world looks alien superficially but on a closer look if one changes their dress, manners, speech, etc. they will resemble the characters of today, maybe even the elite corporate world.
Over and above, the story is about power play and today man and woman alike only want to assert their ambitions and selfish motive.
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