Live plays, retro posters: Kolkata’s Hatibagan Nabinpally Durga Puja revives old Bengali theatre

A Durga idol placed at Hatibagan Nabinpally in Kolkata.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Organisers of Hatibagan Nabinpally Durga Puja Committee in Kolkata are staging a play at their pandal every evening till Dashami as a tribute to Bengali theatre of the late 19th century, their theme for this year’s puja.

“In the late 19th and early 20th century, this locality [Hatibagan] was the hub of iconic Bengali theatre. All the major theatre venues were nearby,” said Tarna Dutta Roy Chowdhury, one of the organisers of Hatibagan Nabinpally Durga Puja. “When brainstorming themes at Hatibagan Nabinpally, we thought, why not revive our theatre traditions and recreate them for the public as a Durga Puja theme?”

In a makeshift auditorium constructed next to the pandal — a recreation of Rangana theatre of old Calcutta — organisers have been staging plays every evening between 7 p.m. and 4 a.m. since October 4. The plays will be staged daily till the last day of Durga Puja, Dashami on October 12.

Female thespians of yore

In the plays, the organisers impersonate nine to 10 iconic female thespians of Calcutta and enact their reactions to the current decline of the city’s theatre venues. “When theatre was at its peak in old Calcutta, police had to deployed in this locality to control the crowd, especially when performers like Noti Binodini, Tripti Mitra, and Sundari Devi were on stage,” Ms. Roy Chowdhury said.

The plays tie in with their theme — the bygone glory of Calcutta’s old theatre auditoriums. 

“All the famous auditoriums like Star Theatre, Sarkarina, Bijan Theatre, Biswarupa, Rangana, Rangmahal used to be around the Hatibagan area, but most of them have now been converted to high-rises and malls,” Ms. Roy Chowdhury said. “We hope that through our Durga Puja theme and our plays, we can help save the auditoriums that remain.”

For visitors, the theme of Hatibagan Nabinpally becomes evident much before they enter the pandal. Adjoining streets are pasted with retro play posters and signage resembling the outside of an eventful theatre venue. “Our idol draws inspiration from Noti Binodini, one of Calcutta’s biggest theatre stars of the 1880s. The altar resembles a stage, and on the sides we have wings,” she said.

Posters of the play outside the theatre venue in Kolkata.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

According to organisers, the research behind the theme has spanned over the last year and involved consulting yesteryear producers, auditorium owners, and other experts.

“There is not a lot from that era of theatre that has been documented and archived online. Experts like senior thespians and yesteryear producers helped us execute our concept,” Ms. Roy Chowdhury said.

She added that based on the physical archives they accessed, elements like old posters, banners, etc., were recreated in the Hatibagan Nabinpally pandal.