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Mumbai's Forgotten Theatre People! Ramu Ramanathan* Mumbai is a city with many cities in it. Its theatre is diverse and varied. How does one characterise it? There are different types of theatre in Mumbai. But there is ignorance about it. Theatre remains a peripheral underdog activity. There are hundreds of unsung heroes and heroines, out there. It is our tragedy that we don't know their names, nor of their existence. Because they are the real creators of Mumbai. Their voices have been suppressed. Beneath the Mumbai Shining syndrome, there's discontent and anger. This paper identifies a few trends discerned in Mumbai. Some of the cultures in evidence may see a conflict of ideas and beliefs, but hopefully the conflict will be clarifying and instructive. Some of the identities in evidence may see a conflict of ideas and beliefs, but hopefully, the conflict will be clarifying and instructive. [Paper presented at the Regional Multiculturalism sponsored by the Canadian Studies Programme and Centre for Performing Studies in Theatre held at University of Pune on March 4 and 5 th 2006.] Playwright, Editor PT Notes. Email: Five years ago, I met a columnist cum renowned editor who penned a literary column for one of India's most politically correct newspaper. His column examined novelists, short story writers, travel writers, poets, biographists, essayists and even filmmakers. But not a single playwright. Not even my oversight. I pointed this out. He asked me where I come from. I told him, Mumbai. He asked me what I do. I told him I try to write plays. And then he said, ah, I didn't know there are playwrights in Mumbai. This was a well-bred put down. So I informed the columnist cum renowned editor, there are as many as 2000 performances in a month in Mumbai. This includes, mainstream theatre in four languages, quieter work in smaller spaces; intercollegiate, inter-association and other competitions, workers & women theatre, etc. Not just that. There are more playwrights in Vile Parle east (a suburb in Mumbai) in the rest of the country. The columnist got interested. He queried as to why Vile Parle east was a centre of excellence? I told him it had to do with the Parle Municipality, whose superior water supply nourished playwrights! Mumbai is a city with many cities in it. Its theatre is diverse and varied. How does one characterise it. There are different types of theatre - making itself felt – in Mumbai. But there is ignorance about it. Theatre remains a peripheral underdog activity. I'll try to identify a few trends, which I've discerned in Mumbai. Some of the cultures in evidence may see a conflict of ideas and beliefs, but hopefully the conflict will be clarifying and instructive. Hopefully? eSS Conference Papers November 2006 This is a country with multiple identities. Its theatre is diverse and varied. How does one characterise it. There are different types of theatre – making itself felt - in Mumbai. But there is ignorance about it. Theatre remains a peripheral underdog activity. I'll try to state a few identities, which I've discerned in Mumbai. Some of the identities in evidence may see a conflict of ideas and beliefs, but hopefully the conflict will be clarifying and instructive. Hopefully? With the evolution of modern drama, the theatre has evolved. In 1846, the Grant Road theatre in Mumbai, known, as Shankersheths Natyashakha was a castle-like structure, equipped with stage machinery but lit with coconut and oil lamps. These theatres witnessed a variety of plays, from Shakespearean to Indian myths like Harishchandra to Nala Damayanti. Plays like Indrasabha had a bit of everything: songs, fairies and demons appearing from the sky, and real horses to for battle scenes. One of the reasons, why theatre like Natyshakha fell out of favour, is because our theatrical sensibility was modified. For example, when Mr Cabraji built the Esplanade Theatre in 1876, he provided electric lights and fans. Similarly, the New Novelty Theatre, which was renovated and renamed as the Excelsior Theatre, could accommodate 1400 seats had a 60 feet deep stage and height; and hydraulic machinery to fly up entire sets. These changes were in keeping with certain modifications in the theatre of the time. Until then, the scenery merely provided a background; actors performed in front of the scenery rather than in the midst of it. But all that changed, the forestage decreased in size, and the space for the audience increased until the entire production took place behind the proscenium arch. For example, in the sultry, sweltery days of 1944, when there were no air-conditioners, there were theatres like Baliwala Grand Theatre (Playhouse), wherein a play opened with a loud bang of exploding potash, whilst the curtain was being raised. And even as the audience went silent and attentive, occasional shouts from the vendors around the theatre percolated the auditorium. Pista-Badam – Chopdi - Punkha - Uthav Jaldi and the incessant extolling of the ticket-seller "Khel Abhi Chalu Hua." For some of the performances in the Gothic-style theatre like Victoria, Rippon, Baliwala, the drama companies used to bring their own main curtain, which was operated by two men. Since the curtain pullers often dozed off, the cue to bring down the curtain was a shrill blast of a whistle. During one of the shows, the curtain pullers who were asleep were awakened by a shrill whistle, and so, they hurriedly brought down the curtain in the middle of the scene. It was only later that it was found out that the whistle was not blown by a prompter but by a BEST traffic conductor on the street. Dorab R Mehta, a producer of plays in the fifties reminisces "from the bug-infested stuffy old theatres, we now have air-conditioned luxury. While amenities for the theatre-goers have increased, stages have become smaller, limiting the scope of grandeur in the stage props. Formerly, a dramatist had a larger canvas. eSS Conference Papers November 2006 One misses the glamour and spectacle of the older dramas. For instance, I was astonished to find a huge steamer rolling in on the Baliwala Theatre stage in a play of mine. The imposing scene depicted the docks and other steamers in the background. Besides this, Bhangwadi has shown some spectacular scenes like fire-engines or a train rushing on a stage or a modern operation-theatre with surgeons in attendance." Old-timers still recollect Madon Company's extravagant play YAZDEZARD SHERIAR at the Royal Opera House in which girls danced with lit mashaals around a titanic, but pretty water-fountain which possessed coloured light-effects. The audience in the front rows swear they felt the spray from the fountain. The point to note is, the stress was on the individual, as opposed to extravaganzas and ceremonial rituals on stage. This meant less reliance on chorus and monumental scenic designs, which included chariots, airborne clouds and battlefields. Of course, the increasing prominence of the individual actor has taken place over a period of several hundred years, but the real transition began can be attributed to the arrival of playwrights like Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekov on the theatre scene in the nineteenth century. These playwrights ensured that the privileged setting of the modern drama was the family home. And so, the dramatic interior, as it were, contained the history of a process, which began in the nineteenth century and is still unconcluded in the twenty-first century. >From the late nineteenth century on, the image or idea of home has reigned supreme. eSS Conference Papers November 2006 The fully iconic, single-set, middle-class living room of realism produced so close and so complete a stage world that it supported the new and powerful fantasy of the stage. This box set (as it is referred to in Mumbai) has dictated trends in playwriting in Mumbai-Pune and other centres. Dorab Mehta who is an old timer from the Parsee theatre states, "with the advent of the movies, audiences were no longer interested in spectacles. Audiences wanted to see the actor and more importantly hear him." Mehta then speaks about the performance of plays at Sunderbai Hall, which is used, for sale of sarees, toiletries, hardware, etc. The proprietor would fill the audience with chairs for the audience. There were 2-3 overpowering fans that made a rumpus. Those members of the audience seated near the fan would request, the fans to be shut. But that lead to protests from the rest of the audience. So the proprietor did the next best thing. He switched on the fans, and distributed copies of the play script to those members who were seated near the fan. So, you watched the play and read it, simultaneously. Such is the tradition this city. Even the Chabbildas movement on the mid-seventies was a rejoinder to Shivaji Mandir. It was a reaction to the star-studded, stand-and-deliver, box set plays of Shivaji Mandir. The Chabbildas space was much more informal, much more flexible. The stage was at ground level and the stage lights and wings were makeshift. Seating arrangements included a few chairs and bhartiya baithak. Many playwrights & directors used this to their advantage. eSS Conference Papers November 2006 Chabbildas became a laboratory for the nuclear family, for modern humanism. But if you observe carefully, most plays from Tendulkar to Rangayan's version of Ionesco were grappling with the painful politics of location, of home, of exile. The point is, theatre space has dictated creations on the haloed stage. More so, in a city wherein real estate costs can nullify, all. Today, there's a temptation to closet Mumbai's theatre scene into easy-to-swallow capsules of star theatre (Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Anupam Kher, Vikram Gokhale, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Prashant Damle); or commercial plays at Shivaji Mandir or Bhaidas or NCPA; or the Festivals at Prithvi, Nehru, and the recent Mumbai Theatre Fest. Blinkered by class & caste, we tend to completely and conveniently ignore the majority of plays which are not performed in spaces, other than these. This is our loss. For me, theatre is about the potency of the Word, and as long as the Word battles on, there is hope! I attended a reading by Vijay Tendulkar. It was a simple, unfussy format. He was alone on an enormous stage in Mulund, accompanied by a few sheets of papers. He read his favourite poems by the new generation of Marathi poets, short stories, even newspaper columns. Basically, fragmented thoughts, and remarkably, the audience sat in rapt attention for more three hours. This was the magic of the Word. Of course, it helps matters that Tendulkar (in the finest tradition of Marathi playwrights) is a brilliant reader. It also provided a big boost to the popularity ratings of the poets, authors, essayists. eSS Conference Papers November 2006 Then, on cue, there was a bit of drama. Tendulkar began reading Jayant Pawar's interview with a death clerk in the Worli crematorium. Jayant Pawar, is a playwright-journalist (like Tendulkar was). He had conducted the interview in the early nineties. This interview was read by Vijay Tendulkar in an 1500 seater auditorium in Mulund. The audience was spell bound. This was because, the death clerk unselfconsciously discusses the deathliness of death with disarming honesty. The facts make a mockery of all our fancy notions of Hindu death rites. Inevitably, a few members of the middle-class, Brahmin audience raised a ruckus. It was a bulls eye. Tendulkar had scored. Tendulkar paused, and enquired, if he should continue, and he did so, unruffled. Since then, Tendulkar has been having these readings at small gatherings, Municipal Schools. And through poems, essays, and Jayant Pawar's interview (which is dying to be adapted onto the stage), Tendulkar celebrates the sense of dialogue. Of course, there are obstacles. And the first thrust of control is usually directed towards the performing art. Since they are easy, soft targets. Recent history indicates that authoritarian powers are now aiming first at control of the performance arts media rather than the print media since the latter are more vulnerable to manipulation. This is the main reason, Mumbai & Maharashtra has witnessed a longish saga of "banned" plays: Keechak Wadh by K P Khadilkar, Sakharam Binder and Gidhade by Vijay Tendulkar, Mee Nathuram Boltoy by Pradeep Dalvi, Bedtime Story by Kiran Nagarkar, Yada Kadachit by Santosh Pawar, Avadhya by C T Khanolkar, Golpeetha by Suresh Chikhale. The list is endless. And Tendulkar is in the midst of this battle in a Maharashtra which bans bar girls, makes people stand up for national anthem before a Bollywood or Hollywood phillum, silences voices of dissent. The recent ban on the title: Maruti and Champagne is a case in point. We're living eSS Conference Papers November 2006 in dangerous times. And theatre is a powerful tool. At times, the fight is from within the tradition. For instance, the sort of thing, Vithal Umap does with JAMBHOL AKHYAAN. The play is entertaining, but it teases you, asks questions, and above subverts established norms. Its a performance of a lifetime. Everyone must watch Vithal Umap, now 75, transform himself into Draupadi, Yashoda, Radha and narrator in JAMBHOL AKHYAAN. I've watched this play more than a dozen times, and have been enthralled by the play and the robust performances. But other than a handful of connoisseurs, have theatrewallahs and audiences in Mumbai embraced Shahir Vithal Umap? The answer is a resounding, no! We're careless. We needn't be. In Mumbai, theatre is everywhere. It springs up in maidans like the Jambori Maidan which is hosting a month long Kamgar Fest (the oldest theatre fest in this city). Or even Ram Lila. Last year, I saw three different troupes. And all three Ram Lilas were surprisingly competent, solid and with goodish audiences. Again, the Word was deployed to raise uncomfortable questions to the so-called proponents of Hinduism! These were not progressive groups with progressive agendas. These were ordinary people enacting Ram, Sita, Ravana. For e.g. a research assistant in a Government Hospital or an employee in the Railways. This is not a new phenomenon. This city has always had its greatest actors from amongst the udnerdogs and working class. There was a time this city celebrated Amar Sheik's Kalapathak. Or as Madhukar Nerale loves to narrate, Tamasha shows at Hanuman Theatre. Both have been forgotten. We have a collective amnesia about the eSS Conference Papers November 2006 contribution of Shahir Krishnarao Sable (77 years. singer, writer, performer, loknatya producer-director). We've forgotten Sheikh Janu Chand (63 years, a bard who led a group called Amar Kalapthak); Shivaji Divte (55 years, run a bhajan mandali but a tailor by profession); Maruti Gyandeo Satkar (50 years, and an activist with the Pimpalgaon Gaonkari Mandal situated in Lower Parel). I attended a meeting of Tamasha Groups and Tamshgirs at Hanuman Theatre. A scary scenario is unfolding. The Supreme Court ruling which bans loudspeakers between 10pm and 6am is also affecting tamasha groups. Raghuvir Khedekar, a Tamashgir from Ahmednagar, says, "the show begins at 9.30 and ends in the morning. if we perform for only 30 minutes, the local audience will burn our tents." What now? As audiences are aware, a single night's performance during a mela or jatra includes: lavani, vagnatya, and so on. This entails a longish performance. Apparently, a single Tamasha group spends Rs 15 lakh, each. An estimated 1,60,00 artistes and other group members earn their annual livelihood through such performances. Most tamasha artistes do not own a field or have a roof over their head. At the moment, the turnover is Rs 15 crore, and yet all the Tamasha companies have heavy debts. They dont get loans from banks or other financial institutes. They pay interest of 5% per month. a loan of 10000= 16000 in a year. There are 30 big companies and many small companies. The licence fees are exorbitant at Rs 26000 per annum. What now? Besides Tamasha and Lok Shahiri, a lot of other theatre movements are being ignored. For example, Mumbai has a strong tradition of Telegu plays. eSS Conference Papers November 2006 Telugu people, who constitute about 10% of Mumbai's population, have carved a niche for themselves in the city. Telugu people can euphemistically be called the "Builders of Mumbai" because the CST station, the Municipal Corporation building, the General Post Office building, the High Court building, the Bombay University building, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum building etc. have been built by contractors and construction workers from Andhra Pradesh. A majority of Telugu people who migrated from Andhra Pradesh to Mumbai were from the working class. Their main concern was survival. That was why they did not pay much attention to fine arts or performing arts. As such there was not much Telugu theatre till 1947. The Jaihind Natya Mandali was formed in 1947 by enthusiastic youngsters who stayed in the labour dominated area of Sayani Road. Somal Bhumeshwar wrote and directed 550, which was based on a real life incident. It was a family drama and had repeat performances. Its songs are sung in remote villages of AP even today by those who returned from Mumbai after retirement. Later, the same troupe staged social plays such as KAPATA STREE about a cunning lady, DARIDRA JEEVULU about the plight of the downtrodden, etc. Bhagavatam (Yakshagaanam) - There were groups of mill workers in the areas of Lower Parel and Prabhadevi who used to stage Bhagavatam (Yakshagaanam) and Chirutala Bhagavatam (both are forms of Telugu theatre) in the compound of their chawls or in by lanes on Saturday nights since Sunday used to be a holiday. The shows were mainly mythological productions, with artificial ornaments and gaudy costumes. The performances used to go on till the wee hours of the mornings and used to end with Haarti (which is similar to Aarti) when the audience used to give their contributions. Most of such performances were discontinued in the early 60s mainly due to lack of patronage and consequent loss of interest among the eSS Conference Papers November 2006 performers. The period between 1960 to 1985 can be termed as the golden period of Telugu theatre in Mumbai. While on the one hand dramas were staged by Jaihind Natya Mandali, Suvarna Sangham and few others in the labour dominated areas of Lower Parel, Worli, Sayani Road, Prabhadevi, etc, on the other hand even educated and enthusiastic white-collared young people became active and started staging social dramas at the open air theatre of Bombay Andhra Mahasabha and Gymkhana, Dadar. During 1958-61, C Kanakambara Raju, who taught at the Andhra Education Society's High School, took an initiative and directed plays in which the students participated as actors and back-stage artists. Notable among these plays was RANGA BHOOMI written by S M Y Sastry. This play humorously dealt with the teething troubles of amateur artists while staging a drama - the quarrels among them and their attempts at one-upmanship. Curiously enough, the group encountered identical problems while staging the drama. The unemployed youth who had come to Mumbai in search of jobs after their studies, used to visit Bombay Andhra Mahasabha and pass their time by playing or reading in the library. Such persons, under the guidance of veterans like C K Raju, P D Nageswar Rao Koochimanchi Venka-teswarlu, etc. staged social dramas at Bombay Andhra Mahasabha. Certain connoisseurs like Alapati Manikya Rao used to bring troupes on contract basis and organise shows, especially musical mythological plays. eSS Conference Papers November 2006 In 1964, P Nageswar Rao organised a show of the famous RAKTA KANNEERU of K Nagabhushanam. RAKTA KANNEERU had the distinction of being staged over 2000 times. It used to camp and there were daily shows for weeks together at various centres in Andhra Pradesh. The show was a great success in Mumbai too. Then there's Kannada theatre. The first Kannada play written and staged in Mumbai was Suri Venkataramana Shastry's IGGAPPA HEGGADEYA VIVAHA PRASANGA (Ref: Kannada Rangabhoomiya Nadeda Banda Daari - a History of Kannada Theatre - by various authors. Edited by Sriranga) way back in 1887. From then on, the path charted by Kannada theatre has been noteworthy, with its own quota of agony and ecstasy. It has largely been the effort of various amateur groups and organisations. Over a period of a hundred years from its inception till the mid 90's, Kannada theatre in Mumbai had produced 48 playwrights who had written about 150 plays. These works could be categorised as: · Original Kannada plays or based on Kannada novels / fiction - 110 · Translations or adaptations from Marathi - 25 · Adapted from English novels, short stories, films, etc. - 12 · Translations of Hindi plays - 3 Further, these plays could also be grouped as: · Mythological plays - 10 · Historical Plays - 10 · Political plays - 5 · Social plays - 125 Subject of the plays - the changing trends The early decades up to the late 40's were dominated by mythological plays. Professional Kannada theatre in Karnataka, with stalwarts like Gubbi eSS Conference Papers November 2006 Veeranna, Subbaiah Naidu, Mohammad Peer, Raghavachar, etc. had made spectacular presentations on mythological themes. Music played a dominant part in these plays. Actors used to sing live on the stage to the accompaniment of instruments. Kannada theatre in Mumbai also followed this trend till 1947. By 1948, this gave way to social plays. Newer playwrights like T P Kailasam and Sriranga ushered in a new era, which encouraged amateur theatre activity. Soon other playwrights like Naa Kasturi, Da Ra Bendre, G P Rajaratnam, V K Gokak, Parvatavani, Kshirasagara, etc. also brought out a number of social plays, which gave a fillip to the amateur Kannada theatre. This trend was followed in Mumbai too. However, many of these plays tended to be verbose and lacking in other dramatic or visual elements. This disenchantment prodded the groups to come up with their own plays. The wave of absurd plays, which swept the Kannada theatre in Karnataka in 70's, had its impact in Mumbai too. Kannada theatre of Mumbai too experimented with many absurd plays during that period. Amidst this general trend, some musicals, some mythologicals and some children's plays have also been written and presented. During 1933-37, public shows of the well-known playwright T P Kailasam's plays were staged under his own direction at Napoo Hall, Matunga. It is said that for one of these plays, T P Kailasam himself wrote the copy for the handbill, and in his eSS Conference Papers November 2006 typical style of humour added, "separate seats for up-to-date memsaabs. if you bring your brawling brat, be prepared to bear the bill for chloroform ". Kailasam's play NAMMA CLUBBU is believed to be inspired by the Association. To Conclude. These are just a few names. There are hundreds of unsung heroes plus heroines, out there. Its our tragedy that we don't know their names, nor of their existence. Coz' they are the real creators of Mumbai. Their voices have been suppressed. But beneath the Mumbai Shining syndrome, there's discontent and anger. The dam shall burst, and along with it, a torrent of Words, shall flow! Hopefully, then we shall listen? RR eSS Conference Papers November 2006