Jiss samaj me theatre nahi hota hai, woh samaj tarakki nahi kar sakta hai (A society that does not have theatre can never progress),” says Diwan Singh Bajeli, an eminent theatre critic and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, who was honoured recently with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Delhi Theatre Fest organised by Manch Aap Sab Ka, an amateur theatre group, for his contribution to the arts.
In a conversation with TMS, the Delhi-based critic and scholar, who is associated with the National School of Drama (NSD), says he believes that theatre is a mirror to society. Several of his theatre reviews have been published in esteemed publications over the past four decades. He also has four books, several short stories and six one-act plays to his name.
Bajeli’s interest in theatre began as a Delhi social activist in the early ’70s. A keen theatre-goer, he began to strike up conversations with theatre stalwarts; it gave him a nuanced view of what a play entails. “My interest was piqued once I began watching plays by prominent theatre artistes such as Mohan Upreti and B M Shah. The time I began writing in the early ’70s, it was the golden period of Indian theatre criticism. Renowned names such as Romesh Chander, Nemi Chandra Jain and Kavita Nagpal were associated with it at the time. They were great theatre critics. Constant conversation with them gave me an insight into the intricate and rich details of theatre that are not always easy to grasp,” he says. “I used to see theatre rehearsals, which served to acquaint me with the multiple aspects of the art of theatre.”
Theatre as an art form, however, is witnessing a decline, says Bajeli, who is a Tagore National Fellow appointed by the Union Ministry of Culture to work on the forms of folk theatre of Kumaon. “Big productions like Adhe Adhure by Mohan Rakesh, Hayavadana by Girish Karnad and Andhya Yug by Dharamvir Bharati were great theatre productions staged by eminent directors. When you see those plays and compare them with the ones today, there is a considerable difference,” he says.
Bajeli cites the case of Utpal Dutt, a renowned director, actor and playwright, whose subversive work, Kallol (Outcry), and other street plays in Kolkata in the ’60s, led to him being jailed for several months, as the government feared their anti-establishment message. “Theatre is a reflection of society’s anguish and its contradictions,” he says. “How many directors do we see working on political plays these days?”
The writer, who has published books on Mohan Upreti, one of the pioneers of Indian theatre music, also wrote The Theatre of Bhanu Bharti: A New Perspective. Here he elaborates on the art of blending traditional Indian theatre with contemporary styles. “The book I wrote on Bharti was after witnessing the trends in theatre today. I hinted at what theatre could be. Playwrights and directors like Bharti and Habib Tanvir made Indian theatre what it should be – rooted in Indian soil reflecting contemporary consciousness. The current urban theatre seems to be inspired more by the western theatre style,” he says.
Bharti was an NSD graduate who then went to the areas where the Bheel tribe lives. “Bheels have a form of theatre that Bharti blended with the urban form. An example of the same is Pashu Gayatri. He gave a contemporary ring to the rituals and beliefs of the Bheels and they responded to it well,” Bajeli says. He notes that these days, comedy is preferred over other forms of theatre. “It may have to do with escaping the daily grind. We need comedies that have humour but also reflect the contradictions of society. The synthesis of urban and traditional theatre is crucial,” he points out, adding that rural theatre is bolder in comparison to urban ones.
He rues that there are no archives for theatre reviews. “I get calls from research students asking about theatre practices from the past. I give them what I have but it is hard to trace them all because there’s no archive of either the reviews, or the brochures of the plays,” he explains. The critic, who has to his credit several awards and honours, including an award by the Uttarakhand government for his contribution to literature, however, pins his hopes on the youth, who he believes “have the fire” to do something bigger and better. “Hopefully, the younger generation will work on theatre that will be rooted in the Indian soil even as its consciousness is modern,” he says.