Soudagarer Nouka

“Saudagarer Nouka” by Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay is a blistering polemic regarding the crisis of identity and relevance of an artist while the form of performing art is under a threat. The play is based on a period, when “Jatra”, the rich cultural art form of Bengal, is negotiating with its relevance as a form of entertainment with more spectacular and technically ornamented art forms like Theatre and Cinema. Every art form and artist involved with that art form experience the juncture of time, when the desires and the quantum of pleasure derived from the mediums of entertainment transform, and a certain form of art form becomes irreverent as narrative storytelling becomes more engaging with technological innovations. The narrative of the play revolves around a onetime renowned “Jatra” artist, whose artistic expression could not attract the audience’s sensory observation due to his old age and most importantly because the form of performing art that he was comfortable to express his experiences was becoming obsolete and was almost moving towards the verge of oblivion. The emotional crisis of an individual of not being able to express, followed by poverty and disrespect from his family members still now captivates the empathy of audiences for the protagonist. The reason for this emotional connect which still happens with the audiences and the play is that now, in this age of the technology-ruled world, art has been dependant more on technology rather than the drive to find out ways to express one’s own experiences of life. Any artist now has to be acutely aware of the continual struggle between innovation and expression. While technological innovation is growing and at an alarmingly fast pace, artists and craftsmen are victimized as any day they might not be able to master over a new technical alienation, and they will be outmoded. Theater currently is facing the same struggle of existence as an art form within the spectrum of new media forms and digital aggression as well as struggles where technology is changing the language of theatrical expression altogether. Thus “Saudagarer Nouka” holds its relevance in this ephemeral time of both any form of art and an artist, when genres, the language of expression, artists, and art forms are transient.