A superstar who played a pivotal part in shaping Bengali public theatre in its formative years deserves a fitting tribute, a procession of Calcuttans demanded on Friday.
The procession marked the beginning of a campaign to celebrate the superstar, Nati Binodini, and her mentor, dramatist-actor-director Girish Chandra Ghosh, the doyen of Bengali stage.
The campaigners demanded a theatre named after Binodini Dasi (1862-1941), better known as Nati Binodini, a leading stage actress of her time, who started acting at the age of 12 and gave it up at 23 in spite of her enormous popularity. Despite the stigma she faced from an oppressive society that looked down on female actors, almost all of whom were from red-light areas, Binodini is remembered for her enthralling performances in Durgeshnandini, Bishbriksha, Palashir Juddha and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Her performance as Chaitanya, 15th-century saint and social reformer, had famously sent Ramakrishna Paramhansa into a trance at Star theatre. Binodini was instrumental in helping Ghosh start Star in 1883.
Friday’s procession started from Bichali Ghat along the Hooghly and culminated at Ghosh’s house in Bagbazar.
“It is not that Binodini did not get recognition. She was the reigning superstar of the Bengali stage. Her dream was to have a theatre named after her. But that never happened because she was labelled a courtesan,” said actress Sudipta Chakraborty, who essays the titular role in Binodini Opera, the play — scripted and directed by Abanti Chakraborty — that has been running to packed houses every time since its March 8 premiere at the Academy of Fine Arts. “The life of Binodini has inspired several plays,” said Sudipta, who walked in Friday’s rally along with the cast and crew of the play.
As part of the campaign, Binodini Opera will be staged at Girish Mancha on June 20.
An exhibition on the lives of Ghosh and Binodini started at Ghosh’s house on Friday.
“It is biographical in nature. Rare pictures and covers of books written by Ghosh and his mentor are among the highlights of the exhibition,” said Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya, the curator. The exhibition ends on June 20.
On Friday, sculptor Bimal Kundu and singer Sreekumar Chatterjee were among the participants of the rally.
“Binodini was the first star of the Bengali stage. Her contribution to Bengali theatre is unparalleled. But she continued to be exploited throughout her life. The least we can do is have a theatre or a drama academy named after her,” said Dhiman Das, among the key organisers of the campaign.