Images

Brochure

Theatron

Presents

Mitrapuran

Original Play: Mitrachi Goshta by Vijay Tendulkar

Directed by: Trina Nileena Banerjee

Translation from English: Salil Bandyopadhyay

Ideas and Intentions

Theatron’s new production Mitrapuran takes us back to an indefinite time in India’s history - a time in the last century when homosexual desire, in our country and elsewhere, was still marked by the absence of a language that could express it. It was, in fact, an absence in itself - an empty space where identities, personal histories and lives were lost. ‘Political’ history wrote itself without admitting this loss –without acknowledging the presence of women and men who desired, let alone those who desired differently. And even as a nation moved towards Freedom, stories remained untold. Identities were wiped out. History cleansed itself, ran on clearly-blameless tracks. Political freedom was defined alongside what was deemed to be neither political nor deserving of freedom.

What remained was memory.

Mitrapuran is one such memory.

Simply, pages from a diary one is compelled to listen to. A story that one man is compelled to tell.

Our sutradhar is Srikant Marathe (Bapu) - a brooding, middle-aged man - who tells us the story of Sumitra Dev, a girl he used to know in college several decades ago. In those days, Bapu was a gawky student from out of town (the town is Poona, we conjecture). Sumitra came from a rich family that lived in a bungalow near the Deccan Gymkhana, one of Poona’s posh localities.

Bapu and Mitra become friends over chai and cycle rides. Days go by. Mitra is loud, confident and too much ‘like a man’ for anyone’s comfort. Then one day, Mitra falls in love with a girl in her class. She is elated, exuberant; but Bapu is scared for her. Bapu’s story takes us through the following years, years that are now etched in his memory – years that lead finally to a horrifying end.

Mitrapuran uses music and visuals to create an era that has gone by. The music on an old valve radio takes Bapu back to his youth. It is to him the only marker of that time. With Bapu, we listen to old LPs on the radio – the thumris of Rasoolan Bai, songs by K.L. Saigal and Noorjehan. The music in itself is the map of a time; something that helps chart a memory that threatens to grow increasingly hazy. The vocals by Sudeshna Dutta Chaudhuri capture for us some of the pearls of North Indian classical music – renditions that promise to stay with you long after the play is over. Snapshots of Bapu’s memory and fantasy appear as images in the performing space - which in itself is fragmentary and dislocated. The stills are captured by young documentary film maker Debolina and the performing space is designed by the very young art director Abhijay Gupta.

Mitrapuran is a play by Vijay Tendulkar. The translation is by Salil Bandyopadhyay.

Cast and Credits:

Playwright: Vijay Tendulkar
Translation from English: Salil Bandyopadhyay
Director: Trina Nileena Banerjee
Art Director: Abhijay Gupta Photography: Debalina
Vocals: Sudeshna Dutta Chaudhuri
Lights: Badal Das
Research Team: Uttaran Das Gupta
Assisted By: Arnab Banerji, Nandini Das

Production Team:

Music Operation: Uttaran Das Gupta
Assistance In Recording and Compilation: Arnab Banerji and Mirna Guha

Sets Design: Abhijay Gupta Sets: Ajit Roy
Assisted By: Uttaran Das Gupta , Arnab Banerji, Dana Roy, Prakriti Dutta Mukherjee

Stills Operation: Aditya Vikram Das
Sequence Created By: Abhijay Gupta
Assistance in Shoot: Mirna Guha, Athena Mondal, Uttaran Das Gupta, Aditya Vikram Das, Arnab Banerji

Props: Dana Roy, Raii Mukherjee

Costume and Make Up: Shuktara Lal, Mirna Guha
Assisted By: Athena Mondal

Publicity Asst: Aditya Vikram Das

Cast:

Mitra: Dola Chakrabarti
Bapu: Joyraj Bhattacharjee
Pandey: Arnab Banerji
Nama: Prakriti Dutta Mukherjee
Dehlvi: Abhijay Gupta

Chaa-wala: Uttaran Das Gupta

Captain Singh: Aditya Vikram Das

Waiter at Army Club: Arka Alam

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank the following people and organizations for their invaluable advice, help and support:

Dr. B.B. Chatterjee, Dr. Paromita Chakravarti, Dr. Rajarshi Dasgupta, Dr. Mondal, Saswati Biswas, Nagenda’s Studio, Dolly’s Tea Shop, Anindya Hajra and the Pratyay Gender Trust, Dr. Ananda Lal and Jadavpur University Department of English, Dr. Amlan Dasgupta and the Jadavpur University Archive of North Indian Classical Music, Lake Gardens People’s Association, Anya Theatre Bhavan, Geetabithika, Vikram Iyengar, Maharashtra Mandal, Sunayana Roy, Mr. Sumanto Mukhopadhyay, Mrs. Anuradha Maitra, Aniruddha Maitra, Mr. Arup Das, Nandini Das, Sumit and Katy Lai Roy, Mr. Ranajay Gupta and Mrs. Mitali Gupta, Pradipta Sarkar, Ritam Sengupta, Debolina Seth, Mr. Dwijen Banerjee, and others.

Previews and Reviews

Telegraph Preview


Indian Express Review

Mitra News

review

Cant seem to locate the Outlook preview and the Hindustan Times Review online. Will put up as soon as I find them

On the Edge

Mitra Rehearsal Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j112b7yw10Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2BCoI0mmMo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtiMXUbhbvs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCv9ase4bNw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW5lTZWyD08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPeH4wyoYc0

Mitra Rehearsal Photos: Shesh Din, Amar Ghore

"Arre Dehlvi, bas kar yaar!"

Eibar marbe.
Director ar dui goonda.
Heroine.
Heroine abar.
Dana.
Director.
Ki koshto.
Gogol ar chobi.
Choto heroine, finally hashche.
Raai.
Director khushi.
Lead actor otota khushi na.
Beanieta abar ghumocche.
Productioner mathai hath.
Meenakumari Inc.
Jini beshirbhag chobigulo tullen, ar tanr ghumonto boyfriend.
Hero!
Director chokh khulechen.
Director traumatized.
Dola.
Arnab.
Boi khatar pechone Uttaran lukocche.
Meenakumari unlimited.
Pandey abar Dehlvir dike lewd gestures korche.
Uff, ki prem.
Rai.
Eire, mere phello.
Beanie jege.
Na jawo saiyan ityadi.
Dola.
"Eije, heshona this is serious."
Dujon.
Dana ar Dola.

Schedule Till the 26th

Friday 17th August : Run Through 6-9 pm, Lake Gardens People's Association

Saturday 18th August: Rehearsal 1-5 pm, Saswatidi's House, Dover Lane (ask directions)
Set Work 5 -10 pm, Niranjan Sadan, Bijoygarh (ask directions)
Gogol will say who is required

Sunday 19th August: Stage Rehearsal 8 am - 5pm, Niranjan Sadan

Monday 20th August: Run Through 6-9pm, my place

Tuesday 21st August: Tech Rehearsal 9am-4pm, Gyan Manch

Wednesday 22nd August: Closed Door Show 9:30 am-2: 30 pm, Gyan Manch

Thursday 23rd August: Run Through 6-9 pm, my place

Friday 24rth August: Run Through 6-9 pm, Golpark Geetabithika

Saturday 25th August: Run Through 6-9 pm, Golpark Geetabithika

26th, of course, will be a holiday. :)

All other dates are etched in stone. Written in sweat and blood. Or whatever other dramatic phrase catches your fancy. In short, no bunking, no offs - only working our pretty arses off.

Also, on the 21st and 22nd, I may call for evening rehearsals depending on how the techs go.

See you all soon.

There will be a production meeting on Saturday evening. Will let you know when and where.

Love and lotsa luck

Direktawr. (to rhyme with 'roar')

Costume meeting -- 14th, 5.30, Trina's house

Please bring whatever costumes you may be using or any costumes you have that may be used by someone in the production, tomorrow (14th August). We'll be meeting at Trina's house at 5.30 pm to check all costumes. Those who have classes at JU, please come by 6, if 5.30 is not possible. But everyone must bring their costumes along with clothes/related articles that other actors may be wearing. Costumes include: clothes, shoes, socks, belts, suspenders, blouses, caps, vests -- basically anything that constitutes being "worn". I would also like to see petticoats, but if you bring everything else, and cannot think of bringing petticoats, I may excuse you :). But, in that case, do ensure that your petticoats match your saris.

Dana -- please bring the brocade top and red suspenders (which may be used temporarily, if nothing else).

Nan -- please bring the purple sari; no need to wash/iron it.

Gogol -- bring not only your clothes, but also your cousin tomorrow. Ask him if he has a white shirt (half sleeves) and a pair of white trousers. If so, he must bring them. School shirt and pants would suffice if both are white. He should also bring slippers (chappals), but this needs to be verified by Trina.

See you all tomorrow.

Press Release

Theatron

Presents

Mitrapuran

A play by Vijay Tendulkar

Directed by: Trina Nileena Banerjee

Time: 6 pm

Date: 26^th August

Venue: Gyan Manch

Mitrapuran: Ideas and Intentions

About the Play:

Theatron's new production Mitrapuran takes us back to an indefinite time in India's history- a time in the last century where homosexual desire, in our country and elsewhere, was still marked by the absence of a language that could express it. It was, in fact, an absence in itself - an empty space where identities, personal histories and lives were lost. 'Political' history wrote itself without an admission of this loss –without acknowledging the presence of women and men who desired, let alone those who desired differently. And even as a nation moved towards Freedom, stories remained untold. Identities were wiped out. History cleansed itself, ran on clearly-blameless tracks. Political freedom was defined alongside what was deemed to be neither political nor deserving of freedom.

What remained was memory.

Mitrapuran is one such memory.

Pages from a diary one is compelled to listen to. A story that one man is compelled to tell.

Our sutradhar is Srikant Marathe (Bapu) - a brooding, middle-aged man - who tells us the story of Sumitra Dev, a girl he used to know in college several decades ago. In those days, Bapu was a gawky student from out of town (the town is Poona, we conjecture). Sumitra cames from a rich family that lived in a bungalow near the Deccan Gymkhana, one of its posh localities. Bapu and Mitra become friends over chai and cycle rides. Days go by. Mitra is loud, confident and too much 'like a man' for anyone's comfort. Then one day, Mitra falls in love with a girl in her class. She is elated, exuberant but Bapu is scared for her. As the play progresses, Bapu takes us through the following years in Mitra's life, years that are now etched in his memory – years that lead to a horrifying end for Mitra.

Mitrapuran uses music and visuals to create an era that has gone by. The music on an old valve radio takes Bapu back to his youth – it is to him, the only marker of that time. With Bapu, we listen to old LPs on the radio – the thumris of Rasoolan Bai, songs by K.L. Saigal and Noorjehan. The music in itself is the map of a time; something that helps chart a memory that threatens to grow increasingly hazy. The vocals by Sudeshna Dutta Chaudhuri capture for us some of the pearls of North Indian classical music – renditions that promise to stay with you long after the play is over. Snapshots of Bapu's memory and fantasy appear as images in the performing space - which in itself is fragmentary and dislocated. The stills are captured by young documentary film maker Debolina and the performing space is designed by the very young art director Abhijay Gupta.

Mitrapuran is a play by Vijay Tendulkar. The translation is by Salil Bandyopadhyay.

About the Group:

We've always chosen plays that are beyond our means. If we want to define the character of our group, that single sentence should do it. We have remained around for nearly 30 years now, in Kolkata, the cultural capital of India, and we have survived despite our dogmatic stand.

We are part of Theatron. We are part of a group that has never gone for numbers, that has always measured success by the aesthetic standards it has been able to set, and the extent to which it has been able to enthrall and captivate and touch the people.

The group was formed in April, 1974. Our directors have been Sri Salil Bandyopadhyay and Saswati Biswas.

Our past productions include: Pratham Partho and Sankranti (Buddhadeb Basu,1978-1979), Tughluq (Girish Karnad,1979-1980), Tapaswi–O-Taragini (Buddhadeb Basu, 1981 AND 1998), Medea (Euripides, 1983), Raja Lear (Shakespeare, 1986 ), Sada Ghora (Rosmersholm –Ibsen, 1988), Bisarjan ( Rabindranath Thakur, 1990), Khelaghar (The Time and The Conways, J B Priestley,1992), Asangato ( Salil Bandyopadhyay,1995), Tomar Andhar Tomar Alo – (The Gift of The Gorgon , Peter Shaffer, 1999), Kaalbela ( A Man For All Seasons, Robert Bolt, 2000-2001), Tomari Matir Kanya – ( The Trojan Women: Euripides, 2002), Mrityumukhar Ek Dui – (The Man With The Flower in His Mouth / Ai Ladki : Luigi Pirandello/Krishna Sobti, 2004), Shey – ( The Woman in Black: Susan Hill/Stephen Mallatratt, 2005) and Bernarda Albar Bari - (The House of Bernarda Alba, Federico Garcia Lorca, 2006).

Mitrapuran (2007) directed by Trina Nileena Banerjee is Theatron's latest venture.

About the Director:

Trina Nileena Banerjee (26)

After completing her MA in English Literature from Jadavpur University, Trina Nileena Banerjee proceeded to complete a Masters of Studies (MSt.) in English at the University of Oxford on a Felix Scholarship. Her specializations were Postcolonial Literature, British Modernism and Feminism.

In 2005, her first film Nisshabd (directed by Jahar Kanungo, where she plays the female lead) was screened at the 7th Osian Film Festival in Delhi. Here she won the Best Actress Award in the Indian Competition. Nisshabd has gone on to achieve wide international acclaim - having been screened (or scheduled for screening in the near future) at festivals in Pusan, Turkey, Thailand, Dubai, Denver and other places. Nisshabd was also screened at the Kolkata International Film Festival in November, 2005. Trina was invited as a delegate to the Dubai International Film Festival in 2005 and to the Karachi International Film Festival in 2006. In 2007, Chinese Whispers a film by Raka Dutta, in which Trina played a rag-picker, was selected as the only official Indian entry to the Cannes Film Festival. This film also went to the Lisbon Film Festival in the same year.

Trina is also an experienced theatre performer, having worked for more than ten years with Theatron; also performing in plays staged by the Jadavpur University English Department and other prominent Calcutta theatre groups. In 2003, she directed her first production Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (produced by Theatron). Here she explored contemporary issues of identity, sexuality and the open market. A production of Tennessee Williams' plays followed in early 2006.

Writers Workshop published Trina's first book of poems Inside A Blue Corridor in 2001.

She has been a freelance journalist since 2000, having written for The Statesman, The Asian Age and The Telegraph. She has written about theatre and performance theory for these papers, as well as done numerous campus theatre reviews. She also conceived and co-edited a fortnightly column called The Beat for The Statesman about alternative artistic expression about young people in the city, which ran for more than a year (2002-2003).
She is currently a Doctoral Fellow at CSSS, Kolkata.

Mitrapuran is her third directorial venture and her first production (as director) in Bengali.

Well

Only one thing to say: A Month To Go.

So let's work our asses off, I think we have something good on the way ... what we could do is amazing and it would be a shame not to reach our full potential. So lets run the last lap hard and with - let us say, to borrow a phrase from that Rowling woman - chilling concentration. A month of hard practice before the big game and we should emerge top notch.

Hence: 1. Lateness and absenteeism will no longer be taken lightly or excused.

2. All deadlines we set for ourselves must be met, and this includes everyone from the make up manager to the director.

3. Right to reprimand (everyone from the director to the make-up manager) remains with UDG and AVD. Which means I presume (as a corollary to that statement) that they will never fail to meet their deadlines, be absent when required or late . That said ...


Pep talk done (and, I suppose, having managed to sound like a football captain of sorts), we have a production meeting for all concerned at the Golpark Theatron room at 6 today.

Love you all,

Also anticipatory warning/request to the team: Excuse my rising temper over the next few weeks. It's bound to happen.

And if I ever say I am psychologically out of this space, give me two days and then drag me back in feet first.

Lotsa hugs

Directrice.

Exhaustion

Very tired. Can someone else take over?

Attn: RESEARCH TEAM

The Research Team is requested to kindly look up the history of the sleeveless Undershirt, Sando Ganjee as we know it in common terminology... c'est tres importante!!! Please do this ASAP!

ARNAB

Cigarettes in 1940

This is a sample cig packet from the 1940s. It saves Joy da the trouble of smoking filterless cigarettes and also saves the trouble of doctoring present day cigarettes, this is a sample, if the internet(as if we don't)is to be trusted, CAMEL cigarettes can also be used...

ARNAB a.k.a LostInTranscience

Hullo?

Folks, just wanted to announce that I'm free and my time's available. My hand won't allow me much sewing, but my head's working, last I checked, so we have at least that.

Let me know if it can be of any use. Barring that I'll see you all Saturday.

Ramblings of a silent Mouth

Ok, that's a stupid title to start with. Especially in a blog that has an Isaac Templeton as a member, blame my very limited intellectual capacity for it. the fact is, that i have been lying incapacitated, if i may so put it at home since saturday evening, there's a show today evening and then it is back to the bed... for the rest of this week at least, no being Pandey and bosssing over Bapu, no staring at Mitra, or snubbing Nama, MITRAPURAN, has suddenly become such a big part...why is it the people, the role, the rehearsals, the occassional GRAND treats!!! am just loving it, right now, i feel miserable that i will be off for another set of days...imagine an actor with a fucked up throat, pharyngitis, or something the doc called it, i begged him to get my throat back in shape, everything else is OK...Let's see, what happens, right now, i would like to apologise profusely to the MITRAPURAN team for phering pani in their sare kiye, and though this is a public forum and everything, i would like to say that a certain Trina Neelina Banerjee, who i thought a celebrity and a very distant being, is one of the best persons that i have come across, in the ten odd years that i have been with theatre, not just in the performance space but beyond it too, thanks Trina Di, not just for making the rehearsals fun, but for trusting me, i still think, am not worth it...
And yeah, the post might have about three and a half dozen mistakes of all sorts, please pardon, my back's still pretty bad, and ia m finding it rather difficult to sit straight for more than 5 minutes!!!!

Void

Dear Sets Team and Other Incidentals,
Huh...
So there we were in largeglow restaurant with sheet glass windows looking through streaming raindrops and steaming coffee and soup, perched on first floor cornertable, in strange room with giantscreen boobs and ogglyogres and multicoloured Cannes flameroon...
Conversations strayed from Hyderabadi Biryani to Parisian lazyafternoons. Help!, I thought, here they are again, the words like wardens, and thoughts like lightstream, and at the end of the stretch the obvious taking of the bow and clapping off the illusion. With tip.
But I digress, in fact I began on a digressive note, except the image, which was honest enough.
Enough.
I'm not sure of this play. Theatre is no more the runintosun and flyintosky... Whatever happened to the blindingrush I wonder... These faces, all of you and the rest of me, so strangered, turned to people, thinking living continuous people with protocols and methods and mindrubbish jerkoffs. Cut the chase, get to the undertheskirt, says he, at least the underthesheets.
I'm not sure of this play. I could never act. Never an actor. Or director, or anything. I just knew how to feel, and understand other minds and bodies and connect lovehates like stars; addicted to the blindingrush. But I could walk right off this world. And that one too.
There is no set, there is no set!! yet!! And all things technical still, now stand null and void. All our mindmaps and colourschemes and thematic ejaculations.
No, I shall not stick to protocol, I'm overriding coreteam decisions, I'm going to have sex with the colour palette and even it's rainbow haired mother. The rest of you can do whatever the hell you want. Only, make sure you feel. Feel.
I shall too.

What art? What direction?

A Few Things...

Ok, so we have new Mitra and Nama.
Welcome Dola and Prakriti. Hope you will enjoy working with us.
Yeah!!!!!
But there are a few things that we need to take care of...

Rehearsals at Lake Garden People's Associations:
10th Sunday, June, 2007: 6.00pm to 9.00pm.
13th Wednesday, June, 2007: 3.00pm to 6.00pm.
15th Friday, June, 2007: 3.00pm to 6.00pm.
17th Sunday, June, 2007: 6.00pm to 9.00pm.
Only Members of the cast.
If we fx any other dates, we shall inform you.

Mirna please get Nama's stuff from Dana for the shoot on the 12th.
Joy please get the halogen lamps for the shoot on the 12th.

Gogol: We need to have a set meeting soon.


From the Director's Desk:

ei week days evening ar Sundays afternoon, na? Amar kache to tai lekha royeche. Ki re?

Dana shob jinish amake diye geche. Joyke reminder diyechi. :) Aaj phirlam.

Trina.

Rescheduled Indoor Shoot

12th June, 9 am.

Update

Good news and bad news, successes and failures:

• We have found a Mitra.
• We have to let Soumitri go cos she has to join her job in Delhi in July, but Prakriti is taking her place.
  
• The two names rhyme (random).
  
• We had a very successful and exhausting outdoor shoot on the 27th in Howrah.
• Music rehearsals are going well, recording as planned on the 1st.
• Production team did a helluva good job getting stuff together for the indoor. Thanks and much, much love. Especially Mirna and Beanie.
  
• Production team also did an amazing job on looking for set material last Saturday. Thanks Uttaran, Dana and Arnab.
• We did not manage to have the indoor today due to certain weird mishaps. But this might be a blessing in disguise as the art director will be back by the the next possible date and also the casting has changed (see above) ... so we might have had to reshoot if we did it today.
• I will announce the date of the indoor shoot as soon as I know it from Debolina and PC, the two key players in this.
• I am happy with the way things are going, I hope the team likes the new Mitra and Nama.
• We will miss Soumitree, so lets tell her that with an evening out before she leaves for Delhi.
• Much love. And small production meeting tomorrow at 7pm in Theatron room.
  

Men's Costumes

Fergusson College students, Pune - 1940s.

Confirmations??

1. The Music Recording:

• Is now on the 1st of June at Nagen Studio College Street at 10 a.m.
• A full rehearsal for this will be on the 23rd of May at my place at 11 a.m.
  
• I will also confirm who needs to be present at the recording. One or two people, because it's a small place.
• Anyone interested from the team can come to hear the rehearsal. Someone needs to dictaphone the rehearsal.
  
• Slight Change: We are not giving out the CDs till the final soundtrack is ready.
  

2. The Shoot

• Indoor cannot be on the 3rd, since PC is going to be away that weekend. She told me today.
• Debolina has confirmed that she is free for the indoor shoot on the 30th. We will discuss this in the next meeting - but 27th and 30th are the only two days on which Debalina is free that week. So we dont have much of a choice.
  
• We will go ahead with the preparations for the shoot as planned.
• 27th we should have the outdoor. I dont think we will need to many people, and it involves walking in the sun and waiting in it - so think about it. Not compulsory in the least, even for stills people.
  

* Red stands for confirmed.

More Posters

Arnab has sent in two P. C. Barua posters. Interesting colour tones. Have a look everyone. Costume team could also take note of the style of Kanon Debi's blouse.

Tentative Rehearsal Schedule

Till 3rd June:

1. 21st May evening Monday: Golpark
2. 23rd May evening Wednesday:
3. 24rth May evening Thursday:
4. 27th May afternoon/evening(4pm - 8pm) Sunday :
5. 30th May evening Wednesday:
6. 31st May evening Thursday:
7. 1st June evening Friday (maybe):
   
8. 3rd June afternoon to evening (3pm-9pm) Sunday:

* All evening rehearsals 6:30 to 9:00 pm. I will confirm the venues.
* Might not need everyone everyday. Will let the actors know, but keep yourselves free as of now. If there is a day on which you particularly need to be off, let me or Dana know well ahead, so we can plan accordingly.

Till soon, love :)

Bills

Slight change in the required format of the bills submitted to Dana.

• Must have date.
• Should have the name 'Theatron' and not my name.

Thanks. Lurve all

Long Term Schedule

For Actors:

Lines ideally by:
10th June: Nama, Dehlvi
20th June: Pandey, Mitra, Bapu


Blocking Completed by:
End of June


Whole of July:
Detailing, Characterization

First Run Through:
6th August
Straight run-throughs till the techs.


Show:
End August


Production Crew:

First Deadlines:

Rough Draft Drawing of Proposed Set for Blocking along with Rough Budget to be Submitted to Theatron: 31st May.
Audio Visual Track Dump: 15th June

Holiday!!!! :) :)

I am off from the 4th to the 9th of June. So the actors can go on a break. But let's all continue to do our homework on the script. Also good time to learn lines.

As for the production crew, sorry guys, Dana is in charge - so I can't declare a holiday (!!!!) for you too. :P

Film Posters of the Time

Shoot Preparations

These are our immediate requirements, as I see it so far:

Things we are stuck for:

1. Nama's nosering
2. Old ladies' cycle


Things we must buy:

1. Nama's wedding jewellery
2. Light bulbs
3. Pastel Paper, butter paper, thermocol, black cloth
4. Wires, extension chords
5. Bottle of dexorange
6. Drip tube
7. white leucoplast

Things to be made:

1. Nama's wedding headband
2. Makeshift lights for shoot with material mentioned above

Things to be procured/gathered:

1. Old badminton racket - Athena
2. One white sheet for the bed that can be dispensed with forever - ??
3. White saree/black border - Mitra - ??
4. Mauve Marathi Saree - Mitra - Nandini
5. Red Marathi Saree - Nama - Trina
6. Heavy silk - Mitra - trina
7. Two puff-sleeved blouses - dana?
8. Clutch bag - dana
9. Gogol's boots
10. White socks - Nan
11. Hairpins, net, make up - dana, trina
12. white kurta, pajama - Joy
13. Mangalsutra - Dana

• Who takes charge of food for everyone on the day of shoot? Money to be taken from Dana, bills to be given to her.
• All sarees to be brought in Monday
  

• we must fix a day when we shop
  
• a day when we make the lights and headband.

Deadline for all props to be ready for shoot: 1st June by evening ?? Is that okay with you guys?

Dana: I dont want the list of images to be up here. So dont put the Excel up, but do send it to everyone. If I have missed anything - add it here.

Love, Everyone - All for now

And Guys: Good Work on the Research - even my father is impressed and that isnt easy to do!! So thanks. And We're Rocking !!! as Dana puts it.


P.S: @ Mirna: We will see what the colour tones of the sarees look like on the phone shots tomorrow and then take a call, ya? Let's just bring all the possible sarees in kal. Tarpore we will decide which saree goes for which shot. The only saree I am sure about is the black and white so far. Accha also baby, let's not discuss/give out our images here. will email or call you today. Lurve.

The Credits Roll So Far

Playwright: Vijay Tendulkar
Translation: Salil Bandyopadhyay


Director: Trina Nileena Banerjee

Production Manager: Dana Roy

Art Director: Abhijay Gupta

Publicity Management: Nandini Das

Photography: Debalina

Music and Vocals: Sudeshna Dutta Chaudhuri


Research Team: Uttaran Dasgupta
Assisted By: Arnab Banerji, Nandini Das, Ritam Sengupta, Abhirup Dam


Production Team:

Music: Athena Mondal
Assisted By: Mirna Guha, Abhirup Dam

Sets: Abhijay Gupta
Assisted By: Uttaran Dasgupta
Arnab Banerji
Dana Roy

Stills: Aditya Vikram Das
Assisted By: Abhijay Gupta
Ritam Sengupta
Uttaran Dasgupta

Props: Dana Roy


Costume: Mirna Guha
Assisted By: Athena Mondal

Publicity Assts: Aditya Vikram Das
Abhijay Gupta

Others: Aniruddha Maitra
Joyraj Bhattacharjee
Shuktara Lal
Sunayana Roy


Cast:

Mitra: Dola
Bapu: Joyraj Bhattacharjee
Pandey: Arnab Banerji
Nama: Prakriti
Dehlvi: Abhijay Gupta



Advisors: Paromita Chakravarti

hurry up and join everyone else

Ok. I'd like to ask exactly what goes up here or does not go up here


From the Director's Desk: As of now, everything we need to discuss goes up here. But let's try not to give out any major conceptual ideas or visual surprises. Just go ahead and write, if anything needs to be taken down, I'll tell you.

Trina.

Identity

Issac Templeton is Uttaran by the way.


From the Director's Desk:

Heh, heh ... I figured. It's just that style you have, UDG :)

Trina.

Hello...I am on

Well, I have joined the blog.
Trina called me in the afternoon and asked me to see a old Bengali movie with Ashok Kumar. I checked out the language... there is not too much difference with the one we have in our script. Trina had told me earlier that her father had translated the play keeping in mind the 1970's. There are slight differences with the language of the 1940's. Like people would say geche instead of gache and aghe hna, instead of hna.
As far as the usage of English is concerned, it was quite common, though a little archaic. They would say things like a-begging, instead of begging. Also, we must be careful of words that came inot the language later.
I will be looking into all this.
Dana, I will be returning your book on Monday.
I shall be putting up the visuals a little later today.


From the Director's Desk:

We have permission to change the language as we see fit - add or take away words - from Salil Bandopadhyay.

I have made a list of words that we could include: we will work them in as we go along.

Arnab gave me this link today for P.C. Barua films, have a look guys:

upperstall.com/people/pcbarua.html

Films from the era...

I was talking to my father, and came upon some names of movies from the period, here are the names, some are easily available, in the JU Film Studies Dept. itself:

1.Mukti
2.Devdas
3.Alam Ara(Hindi)
4.Nouka Dubi
5.Chaddabeshi
6.Mejdidi(this one might be a later production)

My Pishemoshai apparently had a lot of K.L. Saigal LPs, I will ask him and make sure, whether he has them even now...
Ms. Director mam, I haven't got any of the stuff that you have mailed to the gang, could you please forward them to me again.


From the Director's Desk:

accha ei je Lost in Transience , tui ke ami bujhte parini ... is it Mirna? Please email me. Eishob enigmatic naam hebby bhalo jodi bojha jai je pechone ke heh heh.

I will try and get some of these films from the Film Studies Department and get back to you.


Trina

Book Cover

From the book cover. Rohini Hattangade as Mitra in the original production. And the man himself.

Amchi Mitra

Well, here you are guys. The very first post for our Mitra.

Tomorrow I will post some of our images. Uttaran, send me the ones you collected and I will post them. Or you could post them yourself when you join. The rest, please join and lets begin writing. Happy posting!


P.s: Sami asks why my Mitra is Smita. Well, first because ideally she should have played it. Second, Bhumika is our cinematic reference point. Sami please come meet us again.

Click to enlarge