Bharatkatha
6th March 2010 at Kamani Auditorium, 7:30pm
Producer: Kasba Arghya
Director: Manish Mitra
Language: Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali
Duration: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Bharatkatha is a research-based production on the folk theatres of our country like PANDAVANI, JHUMUR and CHOW DANCE. It is based on the great epic THE MAHABHARATA, a theatrical performance exploring the energy source of those folk theatres. It embeds itself within eastern classical music, but retains the crudity of the forms. The plot revolves around the 13th day of the battle of Kurukshetra. On the 13th day of battle, the Kauravas challenge the Pandavas to break a circular battle formation known as the Chakravyuh, often believed as an arrangement of warriors in the form of seven doors , each door headed by a General. Arjun’s son Abhimanyu boldly ventures to penetrate the dangerous, enigmatic Chakravyuh. Once within it, he bravely fights great Kaurava warriors, but gets tragically killed by the Kauravas.
Manish Mitra
Manish Mitra is a young playwright director of Bengali theatre. As a playwright he composed plays like Ekla, Sankat, Prarabdha, Saat Kahan Pala, Bingsha Satabdir Ekadashi, Ma Nishad, Kalasrote, Riot, and Hostel. Mitra has a special inclination for working with folk elements. He has initiated the group to do extensive research work on the folklores of Sunderbans and the Purulia district of West Bengal and also the folklore of Chattisgarh. Manish received the Dishari award for directing Shesh Roopkatha.
Sima Ghosh
Sima Ghosh is a theatre actor of great prominence. She had performed the lead roles in a number of major productions of the Group. Along with acting, she had a fascination for fashion designing and has done costumes for Arghya productions. With a deep sense of colour she has worked in collaboration with the set designers to design the costume for Kasba Arghya productions like Simar, Meghadootam, Antigone, Bharatkatha and Karna.
Sudip Sanyal
Worked with Tapas Sen for fifteen years on various productions. Since last five years, he has been working independently. He has done more than fifty theatre productions and more than twenty dance productions as a lighting designer. Sudip introduced computer controlled lighting system in the field of theatre in Kolkata.
