Volume II,Special Issue, April 2026
Volume-II, Special Issue, April, 2026 |
Received: 04.04.2026 | Accepted: 09.04.2026 | ||
Published Online: 10.04.2026 | Page No: | ||
DOI: 10.69655/atmadeep.vol.2.specialissue.W. | |||
কলকাতার থিয়েটার-চর্চায় প্রসঙ্গ প্রাসঙ্গিকতা: প্রেক্ষিত ঋত্বিক
ঘটকের নাটক ‘জ্বালা’
নাসিমা রহমান, গবেষক, বাংলা বিভাগ, কাজী নজরুল
বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, ভারত |
Nasima Rahaman, Research Scholar, Department of Bengali, Kazi Nazrul University, West Bengal, India | ||
ABSTRACT | ||
The
legendary Bengali filmmaker Ritwik Kumar Ghatak was not merely a timeless
cinematic artist; he was also a dedicated proponent of the broad-based People's
Theatre Movement and a playwright of considerable stature. The central
objective of this essay is to re-evaluate *Jwala*—a play written by Ritwik
Ghatak in 1950—and
to examine its relevance within the context of contemporary theatre practice in
Kolkata. As a playwright, Ritwik Ghatak transcended the conventions of
traditional realism to create a distinct atmosphere characterized by an 'epic'
theatrical style. The characters in *Jwala* are not merely isolated
individuals; rather, they serve as embodiments of a collective socio-economic
reality. This essay explores this formalistic innovation and assesses its
continued significance on the modern stage. The narrative of *Jwala* revolves
around the post-Partition refugee crisis in Kolkata, the issue of unemployment,
and the moral decay afflicting the middle-class society of the era. As this
essay demonstrates, Ritwik Ghatak possessed the remarkable ability to channel
the pervasive turbulence of his times through the vessel of individual human
suffering. The play’s central thematic motif lies in depicting the moral rot of
a living society through the voices and narratives of its 'dead souls.' This
essay presents a theoretical argument explaining why Ritwik Ghatak’s plays—and
*Jwala* in particular—deserve to be revisited repeatedly within the
contemporary landscape of Kolkata’s theatre scene. The primary contention here
is that theatre should not function merely as a form of entertainment, but
rather as a potent instrument of political engagement. Ultimately, this essay
concludes that within the context of the current capitalist social
order—characterized by human alienation and a profound sense of
disconnection—the internal struggles and existential anguish depicted in
*Jwala* remain as relevant and resonant today as they were in the past. | ||
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