This year’s National Theatre Festival by Nandikar witnessed several unconventional plays, which played around (pun intended!) with themes, forms and genres. Among them was Maa Mujhe Tagore Bana De, performed by Luckyjee Gupta from Jammu and Kashmir, at the Academy of Fine Arts on December 24.
With a duration of roughly one hour, Maa Mujhe Tagore Bana De is a Hindi play that thrives on intricate details. Revolving around seemingly regular experiences in a school, the play’s USP is its interactivity, coupled with its powerful monologues that capture a myriad emotions while also signalling towards societal discrimination and the prejudices of privilege.
‘I felt lucky to witness the theatre culture in Kolkata’
“This is my 1326th performance of this play today!” exclaimed Gupta, speaking to My Kolkata after his play concluded at the Academy on Christmas Eve. “I first performed in Kolkata in 2011, when I felt lucky to witness the theatre culture in the city. One where people actually appreciate theatre and buy tickets to watch it for recreation,” recollected Gupta. “People don’t pay anything for theatre tickets in most of India, except for a few places in Bengal, Maharashtra and some other select areas where commercial theatre is prevalent,” added Gupta, who ended his play, a big hit across educational institutions in India, by singing a few lines of Jodi Tor Daak Shune in Bengali. The audience spontaneously chimed in with Gupta, creating a riveting chorus.
Gupta had adapted Maa Mujhe Tagore Bana De from a Punjabi story where Tagore was merely mentioned, without being given much of a character arc . “I wanted to develop the character through a realistic journey. It’s a simple story revolving around a young boy who works hard at an exploitative brick-kiln and has to leave his education to become the bread-winner in his family. He reminisces about the time when he could go to school and remembers how his teacher had encouraged him to write poems. One day, he had written a poem and showed it to his teacher, who had praised him, saying that he will become the next Tagore,” narrated Gupta.
‘Young children across the country aren’t aware of Tagore, at least not with much depth’
Gupta keeps modifying his play based on responses from children Nandikar
Through the play, which makes its protagonist realise the real meaning of Tagore in the Indian context, Gupta wants more children to be aware of India’s literary and artistic heritage, of which Tagore is an inseparable part. “There are studies on Tagore in colleges and universities, but young children across the country aren’t aware of Tagore, at least not with much depth. So, as part of my work, I recite some poems and perform for these children in schools. Based on the children’s responses, I keep modifying my play,” commented Gupta, whose play also draws considerably from his own experiences.
Speaking about the nature of his performance, Gupta said how he regularly performs in more intimate gatherings for which no stage is needed: “A stage creates a barrier between the audience and the performer, since there’s hardly much direct communication between them. I feel the stage ultimately becomes like a wall. When you just want to tell real stories and also expect your audience to feel involved, it’s far more fun when it [the stage] is not there. I’m particularly drawn to interactive theatre and performing for every human among the audience, since theatre should be accessible to all.”
This also explains Gupta’s fascination for street plays, where the stage is wherever the performer wants to go. No wonder then that Gupta’s philosophy as a performer is: “Jaha mujhe log mil jayenge, main waha perform kar lunga (I’ll perform wherever I’ll find people)!”
