The Durga puja pandal, an example over the years of static art, is developing a live aspect — performance.

Some theme-makers are experimenting by incorporating action to convey their message.

At Dum Dum Park Tarun Sangha, the pandal depicts man’s attempt to leash nature through dams. At the foot of an artificial hillside, a scene is being rehearsed with the same urgency as that of completing the pandal decor. “Scenes from Rabindranath Tagore’s play Muktodhara will be performed here,” said theme-maker Anirban Das, watching an actor play Bibhuti, the royal engineer building the dam ordered by the king.

They disperse to the song Roilo bole rakhle kare only to reappear and start again, just as they would during the Puja. Another group is dancing to the song Akash bhora surja tara in front of the idols which look like sculptures inside a cave. Holograms of cosmic bodies dot Durga’s chalchitra, which connects with the song.

The group had acted in Anirban’s Abol Tabol pandal at Hatibagan Nabin Pally last year. “There are 36 actors from our group involved in three pujas this year. Of them, 22 are here,” said Rajesh Debnath, founder-director of Sabuj Sanskritik Kendra. Abol Tabol was their first Puja assignment.

“People relate more to moving things,” said Nabamita Ghosh, a group member, “so much so that at one point last year, the club had asked us to stop for a while as the crowd was refusing to move”. Indeed, the Narad Narad duo quarrelling on the balcony of the Laughing Club and Pagla Jogai were so popular that the group received requests for the actors to be part of the Tarun Sangha cast.

At Rajdanga Naboday Sangha in Kasba, a woman will be tending to a plant and turning wheels, symbolising industry. The theme here is the balance between nature and technology.

“Puja pandals are like a movie these days. We try to engage as many senses as possible,” said Moloy Roy of the theme-maker duo Moloy-Subhamoy. A performer in white will emerge from the crowd to put up her short act in a loop. “Her look is distinct to ensure that pandal-hoppers do not follow her to the performance zone."

At AK Block, Salt Lake, the theme is rainwater conservation. A clay statue of a girl sits with her palms out-stretched, as if to catch raindrops. At her feet, two actors roam around holding a lamp.

Bhabatosh Sutar, who is at the helm here, may be credited with starting the trend in 2022 at Arjunpur Amra Sabai. The pandal had workers rising at dawn and starting work at various corners.

“I do not like the way they become outsiders during Puja at a pandal which they worked on for months. So I decided to include them in the pandal. Performance adds life to the structure,” Sutar said. Probir Guha of Sahajiya Theatre had collaborated on this.

“True, the job was repetitive. One person was only drawing a curtain every 15 minutes all night. But visitors spoke to them in between acts. This is a new interpretation of Puja,” Sutar said.

Other than this being an extra source of income, the actors enjoy the attention. At the Abol Tabol pandal, Ujjwal Kar, who played Pagla Jogai, was visible only as a shadow on a screen. “He would be drenched in sweat because of the light projected on him, his blood pressure would fall. But he would be so pumped up by spectator presence that he would carry on for hours,” said Nabamita. Kar is playing the baul of Muktadhara at Dum Dum Park this year.

At Alipore Sarbojanin, 80 bohurupis and palagaan artistes from Malda and Santipur are metamorphosing into their characters in public view and acting. The Bagha Jatin B & C Block puja is staging a short play on terrorism as its theme.

Bohurupis in action at Alipore Sarbojanin

The trend is impressing puja organisers, too. At Chakraberia Sarbojanin, an actor dressed as Chitragupta will type a list of virtues and vices of the dead, which will reach Yamraj for afterlife assessment. “I watched the acts at Arjunpur and Hatibagan and wanted to include it in our pandal. It is a great way to connect with the mass,” said secretary Sourav Banerjee.

The Abol Tabol performance bill came to ₹3 lakh. But Nabin Pally chief organiser Dipta Ghosh insists that budget was not so much a constraint as his wish to involve the community that made him discard professionals this year in favour of locals.

The puja has Theatrepara as its theme. “How can we have a theatre theme minus live acts?” he smiled.