Play on Bengali actress gets Punjabi dialogues

CHANDIGARH: Suchetak Rang Manch staged ‘Noti Binodini’, a play based on a renowned figure of Bengali theatre, at Tagore Theatre on Sunday. Known as the reigning queen of the ancient pre-independent Bengali theatre, Binodini Dasi, was considered to be among the first known female forces behind its initial days.
The play, directed by Anita Shabdish, has been penned by her husband Shabdish.
The autobiographical play traces the story of Binodini’s arrival, glory and decline in theatre. The play precisely uncovers the tryst and turbulences of the late actress, who was born into a brothel in the late 1800s in Bengal under the British rule. It depicts her life’s anxeity of being torn between the stigma of being a sex worker’s daughter and her eternal love and devotion towards theatre.
Members of one of the only two theatre groups prevalent in ancient Bengal had approached Binod’s maternal grandmother, who was also a sex worker, to invite Gulaab (as Binod was called as a child) to join them. That is when 12-year-old Binod got a chance to relenquish from a life of stigma and shame and earn a living of dignity.
The play, which is performed in Punjabi highlighted the contrast of complex characters, who are adorned in traditional Bengali attires and jewellery.
Anita Sahbdish herself portrayed the character of Binodini, while the character of Raja Babu was played by Harman Bal Singh. Sunny Gill played the character of Girish Ghosh, the theatre director.