After a hiatus of four years, Stagecraft Awards is all set to make a grand comeback this year. Instituted by the legendary singer Usha Uthup along with like-minded individuals including businessman Gautam Jain, founder of Asha Audio, Mahua Lahiri, filmmaker Anil Kuriakose and restauranteur and communication expert Shiladitya Chaudhury, Stagecraft started its journey in 2014, acknowledging the contribution of behind the scene heroes and awarding them at a grand platform. As the award returns with more enthusiasm, we caught up with the three forces of the Stagecraft Foundation to know more about the 2023 edition.
Stagecraft is returning after four years. How excited are you and your team?
Usha Uthup: Just being here is so exciting. I feel that the excitement is ten-fold because we are sitting in Trincas and talking about Stagecraft. Stagecraft is something that was on my mind right from the time when I started here in 1969. Only it didn’t take the shape of Stagecraft back then. I always made it a point to thank the musicians who played and also to the one man who fixed my microphone over here. So many years later, I found that people like Gautam and Shiladitya, Anil, and Mahua, who is no more with us, PC Mukherjee, and all of them had the same vibe. When we all got together, it clicked and Stagecraft Awads was found. In fact, when we told Prosenjit (Chatterjee) about this idea he exclaimed, “Why didn’t I think about it!” The reaction from Amitabh Bachchan and S P Balasubramanyam was also similar. So, everyone had the same idea. It’s just that I initiated it and got everyone together.
What is it that kept Stagecraft from happening for the last four years?
Shiladitya Chaudhury: Covid was certainly one of the factors. We did Stagecraft last in 2018. The date and venue for the 2019 edition were fixed but I called it off because two months before the event we had the sudden demise of one of our founders Mohua Lahiri.
And this year Stagecraft has collaborated with the National Council of Museum...
Gautam Jain: Yes. Stagecraft Foundation signed a three-year pact (MoU) with the National Council of Museum, Government of India represented by Science City, Calcutta which is completing its 25th year. The foundation will utilise its own bandwidth and resource to organise multiple projects in association with Science City and this unique collaboration is the best way to say thank you to the ecosystem along with the craftsmen working behind the stage. It’s a big responsibility as well.
Since you’re saying that it’s a responsibility, how big or daunting is the task?
Usha Uthup: It’s a huge task because most of our backstage heroes are not very well-read. And that makes getting nominations from them difficult. I remember when we started, we were debating how we will do the nominations as they don’t take pictures or record their work. This award is not a competition but saluting the excellence of the technicians, make-up artists and everyone who works tirelessly behind the stage. If you go through our library you will be zapped to see the kind of talents there are.
Also, this time Apollo Hospitals and Disha Eye Hospital have partnered with us and will be giving healthcare treatment to all 35 awardees. It’s also about adding values.
Are there any new additions to Stagecraft this year?
Shiladitya: We will start with Stagecraft Music series giving tribute to one music legend and we want to start it with Usha didi. Visual jockey and the audio visual rental company are the two new additions. Also, we are remembering 40 legends who left us in these four years. From Saroj Khan to Sushant Singh Rajput and Girish Karnad to Soumitra Chatterjee we will remember them this year. In total, there are 21 categories.