Tag: Theatre

Jatra Shots – Ashok Banerjee, Biswajit Mahji, Subhayu Mukherjee

One of my final jatra clips. Here we see actor Ashok Banerjee in whiteface and ginger wig portraying a villainous British officer whom actors Biswajit Mahji and Subhayu Mukherjee try to appease him.

The Sri Chaitanya Opera is a jatra company based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The play is an historical drama called Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni (Gracious Rani Rashmoni) written by Babli Bhattacharya, directed by Ruma Dasgupta who also performs the title role, with lyrics by Ujal Biswas and music by Swapan Pakrasai. The location is the Kestopur neighborhood of Kolkata.

This is part of a collection of jatra scenes I shot while a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in India during 2018-19. They’re handheld and shaky, intended for my personal reference, but they might be of entertainment or educational value to others.

Check out the rest on my Youtube “Jatra Shots” playlist.

RRR is historically significant – and not because it smashed box office records

I’m grateful to have been offered an opportunity to write about the international Indian hit film RRR for Contingent Magazine, whose mission statement is “history is for everyone.” They purposely waited until 15th August (India time), India’s Independence Day, to publish the article as their lead story today.  What does RRR have to do with my Kolkata theatre research as a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar?  You’ll see. And be sure to read those footnotes.

The article begins below:

Sure, George Washington was a good war strategist, but could he pick up a motorcycle by one wheel and swing it around in battle? Or how about if Martin Luther King Jr. had busted Malcolm X out of prison by carrying him on his shoulders and dodging gunfire while hopping across rooftops, and together they took out J. Edgar Hoover? These events could not, and never did happen, but would be pretty cool to see in a big-budget historical fantasy action flick.

Cont’d at https://contingentmagazine.org

Jatra Shots – Ruma Dasgupta, Ashok Banerjee, Dibakar De, Subhayu Mukherjee, et al

Another jatra clip. Here we see actor Ashok Banerjee in whiteface and ginger wig portraying a villainous British officer, Ruma Dasgupta as the titular Rani Rashmoni, and Dibakar De as Hindu mystic, religious unifier and spiritual reformer Ramakrishna.

The Sri Chaitanya Opera is a jatra company based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The play is an historical drama called Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni (Gracious Rani Rashmoni) written by Babli Bhattacharya, directed by Ruma Dasgupta who also performs the title role, with lyrics by Ujal Biswas and music by Swapan Pakrasai. The location is the Kestopur neighborhood of Kolkata.

This is part of a collection of jatra scenes I shot while a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in India during 2018-19. They’re handheld and shaky, intended for my personal reference, but they might be of entertainment or educational value to others.

Check out the rest on my Youtube “Jatra Shots” playlist.

Jatra Shots – Subahyu Mukherjee, et al

A personal favorite of the many  jatra clips that I shot while in West Bengal as a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in India in 2018-19, because it’s a great example of modern jatra’s intense and expressionistic lighting cues to convey a character’s mood shifts.

My clips are handheld and shaky, originally intended for my personal reference, but they might be of entertainment or educational value to others.

The producer is the Sri Chaitanya Opera jatra company is based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The play is a contemporary social drama called Sangsar Ek Khelaghor (Family Game Room) written by Babli Bhattacharya and directed by Ruma Dasgupta. Other than incidental mood music, all songs in this particular play are from popular Tollywood and Bollywood films of the past 5-10 years. The location is rural Durgapur, West Bengal.

The rest are on my youtube channel on the “Jatra Shots” playlist.  Check ’em out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObJtRm3PhqM&list=PLyFebM15FeUg9lTE16ItBdw3rA7lq2MGP

Jatra Shots – Tapashi Moon, Nirmal Das, Subhayu Mukherjee

Another awesome jatra clip that I shot while in West Bengal as a Fulbright-Nehru Scholar in India in 2018-19. They’re handheld and shaky, originally intended for my personal reference, but they might be of entertainment or educational value to others.

The producer is the Sri Chaitanya Opera jatra company is based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The play is a contemporary social drama called Sangsar Ek Khelaghor (Family Game Room) written by Babli Bhattacharya and directed by Ruma Dasgupta. Other than incidental mood music, all songs in this particular play are from popular Tollywood and Bollywood films of the past 5-10 years. The location is rural Durgapur, West Bengal.

The rest are on my youtube channel on the “Jatra Shots” playlist.  Check ’em out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObJtRm3PhqM&list=PLyFebM15FeUg9lTE16ItBdw3rA7lq2MGP