I had some very generalised pre-conceived notions about bangla theatre...that it is fast decaying...that the charm it had had on its potential audience some decades back is seriously lacking today.blah!blah!blah!
I watched Winkle Twinkle(written and directed by Bratya Basu)in Academy today and I've still not recovered from the effect it had on me.The show had a house full-the tickets were all sold out.Infact,a serpentine que of bhadroloks had to be turned away.And when I say house full I don't mean those hujuge bangalis who probably go to the fair and theatre with pretty much the same mentality...The audience(mostly comprising the 20 to 40 age bracket)had a definite understanding of what theatre is...they laughed,they cheered,they clapped and even stayed silent where they deemed it necessary.
Maybe it was because of my misconceptions and my unconscious tendency to undermine bangla theatre that I got a real blow today.The dialogues are still reverberating inside my head and I can't get over the fact that I've wasted a good deal of time and money watching stupid,imbecile movies when I could have spent it on bhalo bhalo natok.
Who says bangla theatre is doomed?With people like Bratya Basu making such soul stirring plays and hundreds of people still lining up before the ticket counter,bangla theatre is definitely here to stay...
[p.s:-I thank S for giving me this opportunity to change my notions about bangla theatre]