Bengal elections: Theatre artist dropped from two projects for joining BJP, calls it 'cultural crisis'
KOLKATA: Bengali theatre artist and director Kaushik Kar who has been allegedly dropped from two theatre projects after the actor joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) calls the action a 'cultural crisis' in poll-bound West Bengal.
Speaking to ANI, Kar said, "I, as an individual, have joined a particular party. I am a theater artist. Our friends with whom I worked in the past are believers of left ideology. They took the decision of dropping me without a consultation. The news circulated and I got to know it from other sources. It is definitely a cultural crisis."
The copyright of 'Auto', a novel by Nabarun Bhattacharya that was rewritten by Kar for the theatrical adaptation has been snatched away from him. He was the director and producer of the play.
"I took permission from Nabarun Bhattacharya's son to stage 'Auto' but suddenly the copyright has been taken away from me stating it is a Left-inclined story. I am sure if Bhattacharya was alive, he would have never done this," he said.
Kar was also dropped from playing a character named 'Akhlaq' in a play that is based on an incident in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri in 2015 where a man was lynched to death that hit national headlines.
The actor also alleged that he has been dropped from Sourav Palodhi's adaptation of Utpal Dutta's 'Ghum nei'.
There has been induction of influx of artists in Trinamool Congress (TMC) as well as BJP in the last few months in the poll-bound state.
West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
The state is likely to witness a triangular contest this time with TMC, Congress-Left alliance and the BJP in the fray.