A week after a group of filmmakers, artists and writers appealed to people to vote out ‘hatred politics,’ nearly 600 theatre personalities including Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Amol Palekar and Usha Ganguly have signed a letter asking voters to ‘vote NDA’ out of power. While the members of the filmmaking fraternity like Anand Patwardhan, Pradeep Nair and Bina Paul voiced their protest against ‘religious polarisation’ and ‘marginalisation of minorities and Dalits,’ the theatre personalities argued that under the present establishment Indian democracy and the very idea of India are under threat, hence, NDA should be shown the door. The upcoming Parliamentary polls are the ‘most critical in the history’ of the nation, they said in their appeal last week which they circulated in 12 languages. Significantly, no one from the theatre fraternity of Odisha featured in the list. Orissa POST caught up with a few promising young theatre directors of the state to get their reactions on the issue.
Dr Alok Agnibesh, winner of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awarded by the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi for his contribution to theatre, said so many theatre artistes coming together with an agenda to oust a government is unheard of.
“I raised my voice against the government’s demonetisation move through social media as I thought it was not in the interest of the common man. I believe artistes like other citizens have the right to protest. While they can oppose issues that harm the society, they should not campaign against an elected government like political activists. I am not for such political activism by theatre workers that tries to influence the mindset of the public,” he said.
He said that, as a theatre director, it does not make any difference to him whether it is an NDA-led or UPA-led government so long as the issues are rightly dealt with. Everyone has the right to criticise the policies of the government. But opening a ‘morcha’ against the government ahead of elections is not the right thing to do, he asserted.
On the absence of Odia theatre personalities from the group, Alok said, “Many troupes here run on grants from the government. Maybe they think it is not proper to come out openly in protest against the government.”
Dinesh Das, a well-known actor and theatre director from Dhenkanal and founder of Alternative Rhythm Theatre Academy and Research, believes that theatre is a powerful medium through which a lot of change can be brought about in society. He doesn’t subscribe to the views of Naseeruddin Shah and others who have launched the recent campaign.
“We can protect democracy and maintain communal harmony through theatre and there is no need to jump on the political bandwagon for this. I personally think that these celebrities nurse political ambitions and that might have come into play,” he said.
Nalini Nihar Nayak is an alumnus of Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya and also a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar. His presentation of Nagamandala, an adaptation of Girish Karnad’s Kannada play with the same name, and Manoj Das’ Byaghrarohana garnered all-round appreciation. He said art and literature has always needed the patronage of the ruling class since time immemorial. The scenario has not changed much. Whether it is the present government or the previous one, neither of them has conceived a favourable policy for the art and artistes of Odisha. Therefore, performing artistes and directors have the right to voice their protest if they feel suffocated or think that their creative liberties have been restricted, he said.
However, he is not in favour of the way in which some theatre personalities have opened a front and asked people not to vote for the present government. Many artistes have joined one party or the other to campaign openly, he said. Therefore, these senior artistes also could have done the same.
Nalini wondered how senior actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Amol Palekar could forget that noted playwright and director Safdar Hashmi was attacked by the hoodlums of Congress party in 1989 in broad daylight and subsequently died.
BIJAY MANDAL, OP