These are my final two short jatra clips. I shot these 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 blasting sensory overload of preshow lights and music announces to villagers far and wide that the show is about to begin. This will go on for a good 15 or more minutes to give thousands of people a chance to arrive and find their spot on the ground in front of the stage.
The producer is the Sri Chaitanya Opera jatra company based in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The first clip is from 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 Kolkata’s Kestopur neighborhood. The second clip is from the contemporary social drama Sangsar Ek Khelaghor (Family Game Room), also written by Bhattacharya and directed by Dasgupta. Other than incidental mood music, all songs in this particular play are from popular Tollywood and Bollywood films of the previous 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