The “Paschim” Knocks Again at the Door of “Prachyo”

The latest production by Prachyo is going to be “Balzacer Premikara.” Naturally, a theater group will put on a play, which is not unusual. But for me, as the director of Prachyo, this play is particularly important and a culmination of several interesting facts. First, I will be working as a director at Prachyo after two long years. Second, Chandan Sen, our revered and esteemed veteran playwright, will have his play staged by Prachyo for the first time, which makes Prachyo proud and marks the beginning of an artistic intimacy between Prachyo and one of the finest playwrights in Bengali theater through this play. The third reason is that I don’t think there has been much exploration of a subject like Balzac in Bengali theater before, so we are possibly the first in Bengali theater, and maybe in Indian theater as well, to produce a play based on the life of French novelist Balzac. The fourth point is that Prachyo is working with a major creator like Hiran Mitra, and several other talented and promising actors collaborating with Prachyo. After a long time, Prachyo is again trying to create a play by involving actors from outside the group.

Balzac’s literature has not been widely discussed, at least in Kolkata, but for students of literature, especially those who study European literature and world literature, Balzac is undoubtedly a significant name. For us, theater people, life becomes more fascinating. The inherent truths behind our creations, the various layers of black, white, and gray in the life, the existence of Balzac’s novels for literature students, who will read them and find them significant works of literature, which have been translated into India, and literary people will surely talk about them. But we are not daring enough to talk about them. However, what became very intriguing to us is Balzac’s life, his lifestyle, his life philosophy, and standing in the context of that era, it can be said that it is a completely exceptional life philosophy. There is so much drama and abnormality in his living that it makes us both melancholy and inspired at the same time. We realize that perhaps humans are indeed like this, the primary conditions of survival in our human civilization, living like ants, beyond which people want to live differently, with the pain of being incomplete while striving to be complete, from which an artistic atmosphere is created. It is another kind of journey. It is desired in our middle-class living but stands in a distant position, like the life of Ritwik Ghatak, the life of Manik Bandopadhyay, the life of Binoy Majumdar, similarly, in world literature, the events of Balzac’s life that we hear or have heard so far, we get the narrative of a life striving to be complete but remaining incomplete, and it is so exceptional and different that it attracts us, makes us interested in his life. And that is why Chandan Da, the esteemed playwright Chandan Sen, has crafted a life play about Balzac where throughout his life, there is a pervasive sense of incompleteness in his journey from one woman to another, the intense desire to surrender himself to motherhood, not finding his mother, and in the end, when he wants to achieve what he desires and when it is within his grasp, he no longer has the physical or mental capacity for “life-enjoyment,” like the flickering flame of a lamp, burning and ready to go out at any moment. Those he wanted to hold on to either deprived him or used him, or due to a destined reason, those who wanted Balzac could not touch him in that way, and similarly, Balzac could not fulfill his desire to reach those he wanted. Balzac is the story of an incomplete life of a successful, powerful, traditional creative person, beautifully dramatized by Chandan Sen. Now our job is to build it up. Dishari, as he usually works with us except once in my journey as a theater director, Dishari is with us. Niladri, one of my favorite theater artist, actor, director, and playwright, has a lot of new deep thoughts about lighting, and Niladri is working with us for the first time as a Light designer. We have involved Pedro with this work because our team of new boys and girls are mastering Western dance forms, and we are trying to incorporate that influence into this production, both in the atmosphere of the play and through dance to create that ambiance. Our energetic and promising boys and girls are working tirelessly, and those outside who are responsible for the production are also working tirelessly. When this play is presented to the audience, it will be evident whether our comprehensive effort, our intellect, and our creative abilities are being accepted by the audience. Winning or losing is not a big deal, but the desire to touch the impossible or to strive for it in our artistic lives is the endeavor we have undertaken with this play. If we fail, we will. And if we succeed, we will commit ourselves to even more daunting tasks – that is our promise.