People's Film Collective
presents
Theatre of Life: A centenary tribute to Badal Sircar
Monthly Film Screening & Conversations
15th June | 5 PM | SUJATA SADAN (HAZRA)
// FILM SCREENING //
The Free Theatre
(Mukto Theatre, Muktir Theatre)
Dir: Arijit Mitra, Subhadipta Biswas
173 mins/ 2024/ Bengali, English (English Subtitles)
Post-screening conversation with Arijit Mitra & Subhadipta Biswas
Synopsis:
During the early 1970s, eminent dramatist and theatre practitioner Badal Sircar and his troupe, stepped down from the Proscenium arena of Kolkata in search of an alternate mode of theatre that is more portable, flexible and inexpensive. Soon, this search led to a "theatre movement" in India. Ordinary people, activists and artists could express their thoughts and connect to the marginal sections of society without any compulsion of sponsorship. However, challenges were taller as there was no economic model in place for sustenance of the practitioners.
Still the movement never halted in the last fifty years. How has the theatre practice existed amidst the turmoil brought about by regimented state policies, unemployment, and personal greed in a power-centric society? How have its forms and expressions negotiated with the changing culture? To answer such questions and more, our camera has traveled along with the practitioners from urban performance spaces to rural outdoors, in buses, trains and on foot. Using personal experiences, archive footage, live performances and spontaneous reactions of the audiences, the documentary has tried to treasure a golden slice of time.
FREE ENTRY
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