Poulami Bose and Debshankar Halder in the play titled 'Typist' Kolkata: A controversy has erupted in the city’s theatre circle after a govt circular on Thursday listed those eligible for the Guru-Shishya Parampara (repertory grant).
Among Padma or Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees from Bengal whose proposals have been renewed are Rudraprasad Sengupta’s Nandikar, Jogesh Dutta’s Padaboli, Sudip Gupta’s Dolls Theatre, Bibhas Chakraborty's Anya Theatre, Manoj Mitra’s Sundaram and Debasish Majumder’s Sudrak.While grants have also been renewed for Bohurupee, Subhajit Dutta’s Theatre Shine, Ashish Das’s Gobardanga Naksha and Ashok Mukhopadhyay’s Theatre Workshop, the 10 that have not been renewed include Debesh Chattoapdhyay’s Laketown Sreebhumi Sansriti, Ashish Chattopadhyay’s Gobardanga Shilpayan, Shyamal Chakraborty’s Rangaloke, Prakash Bhattacharya’s Nandipat, Meghnad Bhattacharya’s Sayak, Abhi Chakraborty’s Ashokenagar Nattyamukh, Anish Ghosh’s Shohan, Soumitra Basu’s Ballygunje Antarmukh, Rakesh Ghosh’s Dumdum Shabdomugdho Naatyokendra and Sima Mukhoapadhyay’s Rangroop. The reasons range from ages of shishyas and gurus to groups being “well funded” and “presentation not satisfactory”.
An expert committee under Guru-Shishya Parampara (repertory grant) held a review meeting under the chairpersonship of joint secretary (performing arts bureau) Amita Prasad Sarbhai to consider proposals for financial assistance. Under the auspices of the Guru-Shishya Parampara (Repertory Grant), financial assistance is extended to cultural organizations encompassing all genres of performing arts, such as dramatic groups, theatre troupes, music ensembles, children's theatre, wherein the respective guru imparts regular training to artists in accordance with the guru-shishya parampara. As per the provisions of the scheme, support is granted to one guru and a maximum of 18 shishyas in theatre. One guru and a maximum of ten shishyas can receive the grant in music and dance. The quantum of assistance for each guru is Rs.15,000 per month, while each shishya receives Rs 2,000- Rs 10,000 per month, contingent upon the age of the artists.
In case of Debesh Chattopadhyay, the reason for rejection was that he is “extremely resourceful” and “very much into full-time commercial theatre” apart from being “well funded by corporate sponsors”. “The funds may be better used to promote new repertories,” the circular said. Chattopadhyay questioned the decision: “How can being a very resourceful person be a reason for rejection? It has been said that I do commercial theatre on a full-time basis. Point is, Bengal no longer has commercial theatre. I have not received any kind of corporate sponsorship in the last five years. Since I have been very vocal against the central government, this cancellation of my renewal is not shocking. I was prepared that I would have to pay a price for speaking my mind.”
Among the proposals for enhancement that were rejected are Kheyali Dostidar’s Charbak, Poulomi Bose’s Shyambazar Mukhomukhi, Biplab Bandyopadhyay’s Prachyo, Atanu Sarkar’s Thealight, Sourav Palodhi’s Thakurpukur Ichheymoto, Indrajit Chakraborty’s Indraranga and Bijoy Mukherjee’s Ballygyunje Swapna Suchana. Bose told TOI: “We are not well-funded and have been heavily dependent on this grant. When they said that we have done extraordinary work in all aspects, this is extremely unjust and uncalled-for. We now have to think how to run the group now.” While Prachyo’s application for enhancement has been rejected for lack of creative excellence, Thealight’s activities are “not satisfactory”. Sourav Palodhi didn’t find favour because his group is “extremely resourceful” and is “capable of ticketed sales”. Ballygyunje Swapna Suchana missed the bus because the “current guru is ex-corporate from his stint at Berger Paints”.
A director said: “This selection targeted the left-oriented or anti-right wing.” Actor-director Sujan Mukhopadhyay of Chetana said, “The last time we received a repertory grant for one guru and 11 students was in 2013. It was humiliating for us when the number of students eligible for grants was brought down to two. Even that money has been pending for the last two years. But yes, our grant for one guru and two students has been renewed this year while that of some groups that are doing stellar work now have been completely discontinued. Everything is politically motivated. If they felt that new groups ought to be supported, they could have cut down the number of shishyas for sanctioning the grants. But to completely strike them off is unjust.”