Badal Sircar

Badal Sircar or Sudhindra Sircar was a playwright, dramatist, and theatre director of Indian origin. He was born on July 15, 1925. Badal Sircar, whose birth name was 'Sudhindra Sarkar', was born into a Bengali Christian family in Calcutta, India. Badal Sirkar was a prolific playwright who revolutionized Bengali theatre with his Third Theatre movement. His plays were socially enlightening and reflected the atrocities that prevailed in the society. He attended the Scottish Church Collegiate School but later transferred from the Scottish Church College, where his father was a history professor, and pursued Bachelor’s in Engineering from the Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur, Howrah which was then affiliated with the University of Calcutta.

He obtained his Master of Arts degree in comparative literature from Jadavpur University in Calcutta in 1992. Badal Sirkar was a town planner who later pursued a career in theatre as an actor, director, and playwright. He began his career as an actor in the year 1951 when he acted in the play- Bara Trishna, which was written by him and performed by the theatre group Chakra. He gained instant fame after writing and publishing his historic play, Ebong Indrajit (which translates to - And Indrajit) in 1965, which depicted the loneliness of post-independence urban youth. Sirkar continued to write socially enlightening plays that reflected the atrocities in society and the decayed hierarchical system.

In 1967, he founded his own ensemble- the Shatabdi theatre group and directed their first production, Ebang Indrajit, a play about three people - Bimal, Kamal, Amal, and a loner Indrajit. The troupe performed several of Sirkar's plays, and from 1969, they started performing plays indoors and outside, which led to the evolution of the angan manch (courtyard stage) and eventually became his Third Theatre. The Third Theatre approach involved performing plays in found spaces rather than rented theatre halls, without the conventional costumes, lighting, or make-up, where the audience became participatory rather than passive. This added a new realism to contemporary dramaturgy and started a new wave of experimental theatre in Indian theatre.

During 1970 and years that followed, Badal was one of the stellar figures behind the revival of street theatre in Bengal. His plays, such as Bhoma, Michhil (Juloos), Bhoma, Basi Khobor, and Spartacus, were performed in parks, and distant villages with the spectators seated all around. Sirkar's plays were socially committed, and he became an advocate of the Third Theatre movement, the ideology of which was against that of the state. Sirkar directed his last play in the year 2003, following which,he met with a road accident and his mobility was restricted. However, he continued to write new works, such as creating adaptations of a couple of stories by Graham Greene Graham Greene was born on 2nd of October, in the y >> Read More... , Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and a novel- History of Love. In 2010, he was awarded the prestigious 'Ammannur Puraskaram' by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi for his lifetime achievements in Indian Theatre.

Badal Sircar received numerous accolades for his contributions to the performing arts. In 1971, he was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship, and in 1972, he was granted the Padma Shri by the Government of India. He also received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship-Ratna Sadsya in 1997, which is the highest honor in the performing arts given by the Government of India through the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy for Music, Dance, and Drama. In honor of his 85th birthday, several notable theater directors organized a five-day-long festival titled Badal Utsava in July 2009.

Although the Government of India offered him the Padma Bhushan in 2010, Sircar declined the award, stating that he was already a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, which is the most significant recognition for a writer. His works include Spartacus, Sinri, Bagh, Shesh Naai (There's No End) (1969), Ram, Jadu, Shyam, Prastava, Bhoma, Solution X, Michhil (Procession), Baropishima/Baro Pisima, Kabi Kahini, Saara Raattir, Manushe Manushe, Hotto malar oparey, Sukhapathya bharoter itihash (Indian History Made Easy), Bollovpurer rupkatha, Gondi (adaptation from 'Caucasian Chalk Circle' by Bertolt Brecht), Ka Cha Ta Ta Pa (A satire), Bagala Charit Manas, Nadite Dubiye Dao (Adaptation from 'We come to the river' by Edward Bond), Ore Bihanga, and Dwirath. He died in Kolkata at the age of 85 on May 13 due to colon cancer. Over the years, two documentaries have been made on his life: one is titled A Face in the Procession and was shot by Sudeb Sinha over two years and the other one is directed by filmmaker and critic Amshan Kumar Amshan Kumar is a Tamil Director. Filmmaker Kumar >> Read More... .