The Guide suggests you head to the 17th Pune International Theatre Festival where you can watch a variety of Bengali plays
The Guide suggests you head to the 17th Pune International Theatre Festival where you can watch a variety of Bengali plays
Bengali culture is known for its rich trove of literature, art and classic plays. The love for theatre prompted a few Bengalis from Pune to start a socio-cultural organisation named Dishari, 17 years ago. Its primary aim was to showcase Bengali culture in the city through the medium of theatre. 
"We started the festival two decades ago when it was a private affair and local Bengali groups from the city would perform. But as the years passed, theatre lovers wanted to see better dramas and we decided to bring in talent from across the country. This year, Dishari has gone international and a theatre group from Bangladesh will also be performing," informs Arindam De, general secretary, Dishari.
The theatre stalwarts expected to attend the festival include Bibhash Chakraborty, Girish Karnad, Shreeram Lagoo, Amalesh Chakraborty, Shimul Yousuf, Nasiruddin Yusuf, Malay Biswas and Haimanti Banerjee.
On the first day of the festival, a comic play called Jaga Kichuri will be put up by Anya Theatre, Kolkata. Two more plays are slotted for the next day, namely Punorujjiban, and Binodini. Punorijjibon is a Bengali adaptation of Henry Ibsen's famous play 'When we dead awaken' and will be staged by Aneek and directed by Amalesh Chakraborty.
Binodini, directed by Nasiruddin Yusuf, will be staged by the Dhaka Theatre and is based on a monologue where a woman will portray 62 different characters. On the final day of the festival, Dishari will present Agni Jal, which is a Bengali trans-creation by Bibhash Chakraborty of Girish Karnad's original play Fire and Rain.
"Bengali and Marathi culture have a strong resemblance and this is the reason why we have managed to get so much encouragement from the Marathi community in the city. Dishari aims to contribute towards the development of theatre as an art form. Though the theatre fest is primarily in Bengali till now, we are planning to make it multi-lingual from next year," added Arindam.
All the money generated over three days will be donated to the Pune Blind Men's Association. The audience can contribute by registering themselves for eye donation or by purchasing donation passes.
Till November 21
Time 8.15 pm on November 19, 7.30 pm on
November 20 and 8.30 pm
At Balgandharva Rangmandir, Jangli Maharaj Road, Shivaji Nagar.u00a0
Call 9422541988 / 25532959
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