Utpal Dutt, A Piece From Tiner Talowar
- 7 years ago
Tiner Toloar (the Tin Sword), partially based on Pygmalion, Manusher Odhikare (Human Rights, based on the Scottsboro Boys case).
The playwright, actor and director Utpal Dutt balanced successful parallel careers as an extremely serious theatre playwright and director in Bengal alongside doing hilariously comic roles in Hindi cinema. He is the greatest dramatist in progressive Bengali theatre of 20th century.
"Revolutionary theatre is essentially people's theatre, which means it must be played before the masses,.." said Dutt.
Dutt was also a lifelong Marxist and an active supporter of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and his leftist "Revolutionary Theater" was a phenomenon in the contemporary Bengali theater. He staged many street dramas in favour of the Communist Party. He was jailed by the Congress government in West Bengal in 1965 and detained for several months, as the then state government feared the subversive message of his play Kallol (Sound of the Waves), based on the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946, which ran packed shows at Calcutta's Minerva Theatre, might provoke anti-government protests in West Bengal, the play turned out to be his longest-running play at the Minerva.His stay in jail unleashed a new period of rebellious, and politically charged plays, including Tiner Toloar (The Tin Sword).
The playwright, actor and director Utpal Dutt balanced successful parallel careers as an extremely serious theatre playwright and director in Bengal alongside doing hilariously comic roles in Hindi cinema. He is the greatest dramatist in progressive Bengali theatre of 20th century.
"Revolutionary theatre is essentially people's theatre, which means it must be played before the masses,.." said Dutt.
Dutt was also a lifelong Marxist and an active supporter of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and his leftist "Revolutionary Theater" was a phenomenon in the contemporary Bengali theater. He staged many street dramas in favour of the Communist Party. He was jailed by the Congress government in West Bengal in 1965 and detained for several months, as the then state government feared the subversive message of his play Kallol (Sound of the Waves), based on the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946, which ran packed shows at Calcutta's Minerva Theatre, might provoke anti-government protests in West Bengal, the play turned out to be his longest-running play at the Minerva.His stay in jail unleashed a new period of rebellious, and politically charged plays, including Tiner Toloar (The Tin Sword).