Most are chasing their desired star on stage: Bratya Basu

Recently, theatre personality Bratya Basu received the Dinabandhu Mitra Puraskar — the highest theatre honour by the Paschim Banga Natya Akademi, the department of information & cultural affairs — at Rabindra Sadan. In a chat with us, he talked about all things in front of and behind the wings. Read on…
Congratulations on receiving the award...
Thanks. The award came from the CM.Her department gives away the award. Such recognitions encourage me to work more. It also gives impetus to the path I follow in theatre.
While this award is for your contribution to Bengali theatre, you have been talking about taking a break from stage productions…
Yes, I will take a break. I am working on my film, Byabadhan. Of course, I will be writing plays. But, I will reduce the time I spend on doing theatre and concentrate more on cinema.
But you are working hard, hosting festivals to uphold theatres from the districts...
I have been working keenly to uphold the works done by the theatre groups of the districts. Even with Paschim Banga Natya Akademi, we take steps to bring their theatres to the fore. The Akademi hosts 15 festivals throughout the state. We also try and send Kolkata productions to the districts and bring district productions to Kolkata. Despite all these, I feel there is a lacuna in the campaign. I really wanted the theatre groups outside Kolkata to be under the spotlight. There are so many brilliant actors in those groups and they are in no way less talented than the established names. The effort taken by Indraranga is on this line. Their festival is anyway quite big. They hosted plays by Paresh Rawal, Saurabh Shukla and many others. This year, I suggested them to bring these groups from the districts of Bengal. We wanted to go Off-Off Academy (Of Fine Arts). Through their festival, we brought so many productions from the other parts of Bengal. I also wanted to see if the love for the theatre of the Kolkata audience, who have earlier gathered in a large number for the Mumbai or Delhi productions with big stars, remains the same. And it is never the same…
Why?
I have always said this and I repeat — the main reason for the downfall of Bengali theatre is the average audience. They are not as much connoisseur of art and culture as they think themselves to be. Everyone will give some sort of an opinion and that too, on social media. We have a tendency of making things forcefully complicated. We lack simplicity. That’s true even in cinema. We do not have a film like Badhaai Ho or Masaan. It is not the case with the other sets of the regional audience in India. I am not being parochial here. Marathi, Tamil, Telugu audience are different. A Telugu man is respectful to his Telugu existence — in his upbringing, legacy and identity. That, I think, is lacking in us. The district audience in Bengal is still better. But the scene in Kolkata is pretty grim. It is unlikely these days that a family will go and watch a theatre together or attend a classical music concert together in Kolkata. But it is a common scene elsewhere. In Maharashtra, Marathi theatres get housefull shows on Monday mornings. How is that possible?
What about the productions? Are they good enough?
Are we making good productions? No. The supply is more than the demand. Any Tom, Dick and Harry is staging some production or the other. Many of them lack the minimum education that is needed for doing theatre. They often ignore that bit. There is no doubt that there are many lacunas pertaining to the groups and productions. To begin with, we are not producing enough original plays. Most of the productions are remakes — some Brecht play that took place in the ’70s, some Utpal Dutt’s play or some Pirandello’s play. Some old play that has been staged time and again in Kolkata is remade. There is nothing new. Why don’t we do some unused plays of Pirandello, Brecht and Miller? The other night, I was watching Pirandello’s Naked and I feel that it can be staged here as well. Another one is Brecht’s first play, Baal. There are many other unused but brilliant plays.
Besides, I have always said that a minority art like theatre needs support from both the government and the audience. Just as the groups are not delivering good productions, the audience is not ready either. Even if there is a good production, where is the audience? Most of them are chasing their desired star on stage. When Utpal Dutt or Ajitesh took centre stage, people would not catcall and whistle. Now, people do. That just proves that people are not going to watch theatre. They are chasing stars. Tara theatre e Dev ba Jeet ke khujte jachhe. They whistle while their desired star is on the stage. Many of those actors, who are on the receiving end, do not want that. But what can they do? I also think that our society was not like this before. In the ’60s and ’70s, there was a level of aristocracy in our Bengali society. There was a uniqueness in our culture. There has been a massive decadence in our cultural scene in Bengal after that.
What, according to you, is the reason for this decadence?
I think this is due to the lack of respect for our own mother tongue and culture. In other states, the scene is not like this because of their love for their mother tongue. Our audience wants political commentary in theatre. Politics will be there in the theatre but our audience seeks what they see on television talk shows to be replicated on stage. People are often confused about what to expect from TV news and films/theatre.
Let’s talk about your films. Of late, you have been cast in some interesting roles in cinema. Do you think this is a result of you have improving as an actor, Tollywood waking up late to your talent in acting or simply a casting influenced by your power-position?
I can’t comment on that. I started working in films in 2004 with Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Herbert. Between 2005 and 2007, I worked in films and megaserials. I walked a long way in acting before I became a minister.
You have recently worked with Indranil Roychowdhury. We usually see you in films that cannot always be termed as ‘mainstream’…
Not only mainstream films, but I am also away from mainstream producers… (laughs). There is a prominent categorisation between the producers. Barring a few producers who earned recognition in recent times, Tollywood has long been dominated by one production house only. It’s a fact that I am not a professional actor. Unlike many others, I cannot go and sit for hours at producers’ offices. I could not ask the directors to give me work. Till today, I couldn’t do these things. I might learn to do it tomorrow. The more I am seeing my friends these days, the more I am convinced that I will be able to be like them soon (laughs). I think, they are doing it right (laughs).
Who are these ‘friends’?
I don’t want to name anyone. Many of them are on sit-on agitations at these offices. Since they are mastering the art of the politician-glamour world-media equations, I would like them to be more proficient. I would not like to interrupt their exercise by naming them. There is a power centre that involves politics, money and glamour. People are more involved in the equation…
Not everyone has the funds or power that you have for promoting the arts. If they had funds at their disposal, they too would have produced theatre/films by themselves and not engaged in sit-on agitations to get roles. Do you agree?
Yes, I agree. I am not a professional actor and hence, I do not have the time to do that. But I understand that the compulsions of professional actors are different. However, I must give an example. Shoojit Sircar produces as well as directs because he can. There are people who cannot do what he is doing. Besides, it is also important to understand that today, no one is truly free to do whatever he or she wants. Even Donald Trump doesn’t enjoy that freedom. Kudos to those who still do what they are passionate about despite all the limitations.
In Tollywood, some commercially successful films are now being made. Do you disagree? There are movies celebrating 100 days at the box office. Are you saying most of it is doctored?
There are films that are claiming to be commercially successful. But are they really successful? Most of the producers say that they cannot earn more than `10-12 lakh from the halls. Some earn money by selling digital and television rights and so on. Many producers cannot even do that. They often inflate it to `1-2 crore to keep up their social prestige. You cannot claim to make a hit just by showing housefull shows only on opening weekends. There are exceptions like Bela Seshe. And perhaps Bela Seshe is all what Bengalis want to watch. It is our destiny. I would like to thank Shibu (Shiboprosad Mukherjee) and Nanditadi (Roy) that they deciphered what fits into Bengali cultural space and fed us with that.
Many from the film fraternity insist that Tara, Teesta and Rasta — your last three films as a director — didn’t experiment much with content or form. In terms of craft and cinema language, how would you rate these films on a scale of 10?
I have gradually improved my craft both in theatre and film. I will give them 6 out of 10.
There is a common saying that one has to be your close associate to do good in the theatre world. You tend to help your friends more…
Lies. First of all, the number of my close associates is very less in Bengali theatre. I have a separate set of friends. Ami subidha ba osubidha korar keu noi. The allegations come from those who always need an imaginary opponent to carry on their shadow war. In my theatre, I work only with those I like. But in terms of benefits, there is no such thing that one has to be close to me to reap benefits. You cannot show one theatre festival hosted by me where only the groups close to me are getting an opportunity to stage their plays.
Barring a few people, the cultural polarisation in Bengal had always gone hand in hand with the political polarisation. How do you see this?
I think one should have the freedom to support any political party s/he wants to support. I did not forget the criticism I faced due to my political choice. I will not do that. No party is a terrorist organisation. I think, those who decide to choose a political affiliation before the electoral overhaul are more honest. They have already expressed their political allegiance before the results are out. They are not silently sitting and waiting to see what is going to happen in the 2021 election. I am much more worried about those who are sitting in silence and waiting for the result.
Recently, #MeToo allegations have shaken the theatre world. Your take...
Be it theatre, corporate houses or media — #MeToo allegation has shaken many spheres of our social structures. Why pin point only theatre? I think today people are keener to deface theatre because it is a soft target. Also, in an allegation, there are two sides and any trial should listen to both sides’ stories. In this context, I remember a film, Disclosure. Demi Moore and Michael Douglas are the lead in the film as Meredith and Tom. While it is important to listen to Meredith’s side of the story, it is equally important to listen to Tom’s version as well.
Why is it that in cases involving the Meredith/Tom equivalents in theatre, your voice is always silent? Why do you never take a public stand to state where your support lies?
That’s not correct. I have always spoken out when it is required. Some years back, the allegation of sexual misconduct was raised against a theatre worker. He was directing my play. I asked him to hand me over the play and took a public stand. Quite openly, I made my position very clear. But, one must bear in mind that I can’t be expected to talk on every incident. I must be given that space to decide where and when I want to talk.