Kolkata:
Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee says a nation is known by its stage. The ‘Charulata’ actor, having straddled the stage and studio floor for over five decades, was talking to PTI before the staging of his new comedy Sobjanta, directed by him at ‘Kolkata Comedy Carnival.’
Soumitra, Ray’s discovery in Apur Sansar, rued how despite having been in the stage and performance industry for decades he had to face obstacles in getting a proper auditorium to put to public display his first love - theatre.
“Theatre is an outlet for everybody of us to know the secret of living, about how to live and comedy always brings out the joy of living,” the King Lear actor on Bengali stage said.
Terming comedy as a self mirror, Natyacharya Sisir Bhaduri’s disciple, whose supposed rivalry with industry senior Uttam Kumar was much discussed in the 60s and 70s among the publlic despite Jhinder Bandi classic, referred to Charlie Chaplin as a universal comedian.
“In Gold Rush beneath the comic situations there is the deep underlying message of people even forced to eat show lather in starvation,” he said.
The seven-day unique comedy carnival, only of its kkind in the region, was organised by Behala Notun Dal, showcasing contemporary group theatre productions from Purbo Posschim to Atmodarsan.
“Clubs should not be stuck within pujas, picnics. They should be the catalysts for future cultural activities in a neigbourhood,” Soumitra said.
