Theatre practitioners to urge Centre to reevaluate repertory grant renewal

KOLKATA: Can an elected government arbitrarily halt repertory grants for illogical reasons? Can funding be cut off if a theatre group voices opposition to the government? On Monday, these pressing questions were directed at the BJP-led central government when veteran Bengali theatre personalities like Meghnad Bhattacharya, Debesh Chattopadhyay, Soumitra Mitra, Shyamal Chakraborty, Seema Mukhopadhyay, and others gathered at the Press Club to protest against the discriminatory treatment concerning repertory grants for 24 theatre groups of Bengal.

The theatre directors have decided to write to the Ministry of Culture, urging a reevaluation of their decision. Despite the challenges, they also said they would continue practicing theatre, with or without the grant. “For the last several years, the process of cutting down grants has been ongoing. This is a planned action with political motives. Before we went to Delhi on November 30, 2023, for the meeting regarding the grant, a section of BJP’s Bengal representatives had already sent a list. Now it’s BJP and the Ministry of Culture’s responsibility to determine which section of their party is responsible for this stoppage of grants. Also, this is not the central government’s money. It belongs to the taxpayers and it’s our right,” said Chattopadhyay.

Veteran thespian Meghnad Bhattacharya expressed his dismay that, after 50 years of theatre practice, his group, Sayak’s grant has been stopped this year. “Repertory grant renewal for 70 theatre groups across India has been halted. Among these, 24 groups are from Bengal.

Why should the central government have such a discriminatory attitude towards Bengali theatre and culture?” he questioned. In February 2024, the NSD issued guidelines for a play, ‘Lo Aai Wapas Sone Ki Chidiya,’ which had themes aligning to the BJP-led central government.

Many Bengali theatre practitioners refused to stage the play. Now, they believe not staging it led to the

stoppage of grants. Theatre directors Suman Mukhopadhyay and Kaushik Sen confirmed their grants have been stopped for a long time. Poulomi Bose, daughter of late Soumitra Chatterjee, said the grant gave hope to young theatre lovers, who could at least earn some money from this art form.

When asked about seeking assistance from Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Soumitra Mitra said, “Recently, she intervened to address issues in the Bengali film industry. As the head of the state’s Information and Cultural Affairs, she would be our only go-to person for help in Bengal.”