Kolahal stages ‘Shilar Jinnat’ and ‘Uruku Manush’ at Rabindra Sadan

Kolahal Theatre Workshop aims at the development and therapy-based programmes for the  stigmatized sections of society. As part of this effo...

Kolahal Theatre Workshop aims at the development and therapy-based programmes for the stigmatized sections of society. As part of this effort, it staged the play "Shilar Jinnat" followed by another play, “Urukku Manush” on April 26 at Rabindra Sadan.

The day’s main event was the book release of “Shilar Jinnat” by the eminent poet, editor, translator, and associate professor in English, Subodh Sarkar, in the presence of many renowned writers and dignitaries. The book has been published by Darabar Jayega.

“Shilar Jinnat” takes us on a journey between the past and the present where the surreal meets reality. The play's main theme directed by Nigel Akkara, the 8th production of Kolahal, is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which in Sanskrit means the world is one family. Shilar Jinnat revolves around Ismail, a passionate clay artist for whom his art is worship. His small family consists of his elder sister Asma and his niece Muskan. In this particular year before the Pujas, Ismail’s world goes upside down when he realizes that he is unable to give shape to any of the clay idols. Torn between his duty as the bread earner of the family and his passion, a distraught Ismail starts seeing strange visions that transport him into an unknown realm. But is that realm unknown or does it bear a close connection to his past? And what role does Sugandha play in all this?

The second play “Urukku Manush” directed by Tanmay Ghosh, the seventh production of Kolahal, is a rehabilitation project of Kolahal, for autistic and intellectually disabled children and young adults. In the play, four autistic children have participated and they all are paid artists.

Actor Nigel Akkara, the president of Kolahal Theatre Workshop, said the main aim of the event was to reach out to society. The launch of the book on “Shilar Jinnat” was an attempt to make people read the script and imbibe the message that an artist has no caste.

Kolahal’s previous works include projects with the LGBTQ community, female sex workers of Kolkata, drug addicts, and that with autistic and intellectually disabled children and young adults.