Lalit Gupta
Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, today boasts of a vibrant theatre scene which can be gauged by the parade of drama festivals in recent months, local groups performing in various national level prestigious theatre festivals being held in different parts of country along with some of the local theatre personalities getting eminent positions and responsibilities in the country’s nation-wide cultural programs and policies.
In last fifty years like other creative fields of visual and literary arts there has been an emergence of a kind of regional modernism in performing art of theatre that though based on the tenets of national modernism also speaks of a vernacular face.
The expression of regional modern theatre practice in Jammu is based on the sound foundation of theatre that alongside timeless folk theatre forms like Haran, Bhagtaan, Jagrana, and presence of Naqaals, Bhands, Miraasis, was laid during early 19th century.
The progressive socio-religio and moralistic ideas of the Dogra rulers also encouraged visits by Ramlila parties from Ayodhaya, Mathura and Brindavan. At the request of political elite and close confederates of the Maharaja, a local drama group, Raghunath Theatre Company, was also formed and first proscenium theatre was constructed in precincts of famous Raghunath Temple in Jammu.
The Raghunath Theatre Company followed by Amateur Theatre Company staged mythological plays along with English and Urdu dramas. The visit of Parsi theatre companies like Victoria, Alfred, Madan, Surya Vijay etc from 1890’s to 1930’s popularized Parsi theatre in Jammu and Kashmir. The realistic backdrops, melodrama, and magical realism created through ‘light and trap’ techniques, marked the first phase of modern theatre in J&K.
In the absence of proper building exclusively dedicated to performances, make shift stages were created in the Green Hall of Mubarak Mandi Palace complex.
The dramas of Aga Hashar Kashmiri, Mohammad Husain, Narayan Prasad Betab like’Bilba Mangal’, etc became popular amongst the public. Snatan Dharma Natak Smaj and construction of a stage at the Deewan Mandir in Jammu, laid the platform for public theatre. A Muslim group led by Mohammad Husain, staged plays in a Hall at Residency Road, Jammu. The plays like ‘Acchut Uddhar’, mirroring the revolutionary ideas of Mahatma Gandhi were also eacted.
It was during this time K L Saigal and Om Prakash used to act on stage of Deewan Mandir. Prithvi Theatre also held performances in Jammu. The fact that a well-known film personality like Prithvi Raj Kapoor performed with his group at Jammu, also lent a kind of social credibility to theatre.
Thus this new theatre idiom and its practice mostly influenced by Parsi Theatre style, spread to other cultural centers of the region like Basohli, Bhaddu, Ramnagar, Ramkot etc and led to Ram Lila groups. These groups also preferred the Hindustani ‘Ramayan’, written in verse form by Narayan Prasad Betab.
The decade of 1940’s when the nationalist fervor was at its peak, Jammu also witnessed the dawn of cultural renaissance in the form of and development of Dogri, the native language, to create such literature, which was true reflection of all aspects of local life and culture. The individuals who took the historic lead to resurrect the native pride by founding Dogri Sanstha included Ram Nath Shashtri, Bhagwat Prashad Sathe, Dinu Bhai Pant, Laksmi Prasad, N. D. Mishra, D.C. Prashant, and Master Sansar Chand.
In this background, first play in Dogri, Baba Jitto was performed during the Farmer’s Conference at Tikri, Udhampur as part of the Dogri renaissance movement in Jammu. Though the first Dogri drama ‘Acchut’ written by Vishwa Nath Khajuria was staged art Ramnagar in 1935.
The post partition reconstruction program under the leader ship of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, led to the State sponsored cultural renaissance. Many artists, poets, writers influenced by leftist ideology reflected progressive ideas in their works.
Writing of enactment of plays like Acchut Udhahar, Baba Jitto, Navan Gran etc, marked the genesis of new literature as well as theatre in Jammu. Influenced by progressive ideas that informed the literary and cultural scene of the State in general, many such plays were performed by amateur theatre enthusiasts who gave more emphasis on ‘content’.
Such plays were quite often staged on makeshift stages in towns and village Ram Lila performing spaces. In city of Jammu few of such makeshift stages were created at on spaces like one on the left of Mubarak Mandi’s southern gate, and stage platform the back of New Secretariat, Ranbir High School, where plays like Ali Mohammad Lone’s ‘Deewane Ka Khawav’, Kavi Ratan’s ‘Khotte Sikke’ and ‘Sarpanch’ were staged.
The state Department of Information was also made the de facto agency to showcase the State’s cultural heritage in different parts of the country as well as to scores of foreign and national leaders and persons of eminence who made a beeline to Jammu and Kashmir for political and other reasons. State Information department maintained a cultural wing, which employed artistes who not only presented cultural programs but also staged dramas. Rattan Sharma, one of stalwarts of modern theater in Jammu, also worked in Information Department along with Girdhari Lal Pant and acted in many plays like ‘Bahurani’, Balidan etc.
Between 1947 to early 1960 many amateur drama groups came into existence. Jammu Kala Mandir formed in 1958, by Rattan Sharma along with his associate Dhyan Singh was housed at 153, Tange Wali Gali, the rented accommodation of Rattan Sharma.
Jammu Kala Mandir was the one of first amateur dramatic clubs of Jammu, which set the local theatre scene moving. The other notable groups to join the fray were Friends Club, Bharat Kala Mandir, Snatan Dharm Natak Smaj, Jammu Arts and others. One of these, Friends Club was exclusively devoted to Dogri dramas with focus mostly on Dogri plays written by N D Jamwal.
In the year 1958, State Cultural Academy came into existence. Since it was not till 1965-66 that annual drama festival was started by the Academy, the local theatre scene remained active through the performances by Jammu Kala Mandir, which staged plays like “Seeta di Agni Priksha”, based on Bhasa’s Sanskrit play ‘Kekaiye’. This play translated by Dinu Bhai Pant was marked by modern effects like that of blazing fire created with use of cellophane, air and lights etc. which created a kind of spectacular effect for the audience who so far had seen such technical wizardry in Bombay films only. The play was performed at the stages of Youth Hostel, adjacent to Ranbir High School and at Gita Bahvan.
Academy’s initiative of holding of annual drama festivals, created a healthy competition amongst local clubs who enthusiastically competed with each other to evolve designs, costumes to suit limited budget productions. The theatre scene in Jammu got a further fillip with arrival of NSD trained professionals like Kavi Rattan, who introduced new tools of theatre pedagogy through theatre workshops and repertoires. The visits of stalwarts like Ebrahim Alkazi, Habib Tanveer, Nemi Chander Jain, along with performances of plays such as ‘Mukhya Mantri’, Begum ka Takiya’, ‘Tuglaq’, ‘Agra Bazar’, became the role models for local young theatre aspirants early 1970’s
Kavi Rattan, as in-charge of drama in Cultural Academy, played a pivotal role in training as director, generations of young persons in different departments of theatre like acting, direction, set design, costumes, through number of theater workshops and repprtoires. He also formed a drama group Bahurangi, which staged classical plays that defined modern play writing and production in the country. During 1960’s plays of Badal Sarkar, Mohan Rakesh, Vijay Tendulkar entertained the audiences of Jammu who thronged to witness ticketed performances.
The decades of 1970’s and 1980’s also witnessed hectic theatre activity by other groups like Ajayaka, Duggar Manch, Natrang, Rangyug, IPTA, Natshala, Amateur Theatre Group, etc at Gulab Bhavan and later at the newly constructed Abhinav Theatre.
The production of Natrang’s Baba Jitto and Rangyug’s ‘Lekha Bhai Da’, was characterized by a successful use of local folk elements. Performed at national and regional theatre festivals theses plays emerged as representative of contemporary Dogri theatre.
Under the National Sangeet Natak Akademy’s ‘Assistance to Young Directors Scheme’, many talented local young directors experimented with form and craft to evolve an idiom that was rooted in the indigenous tradition. This was to become a fashionable trend for many a later day groups and which very soon reduced to a clichéd effort.
With plays like Gariboo Da Shilla, Bave, Insan Dushman, highlighting the exploitation of the gullible under the garb of socio-religious practices and customs, Duggar Manch led the street theater movement in the region through performances at hundreds of villages.
The brutal murder of dedicated street worker, Safdar Hashmi and recognition of his martyrdom sent a clear signal to State apparatus about the power of the theatre as the direct tool of social critique. Taking evasive measure, soon under a nation wide funding policy, ostensibly to communicate the developmental and social issues, the ‘theatre of protest’ was cleverly manipulated to become a ‘theatre of propaganda’ through center-sponsored schemes of ministries like educations, social welfare and the ‘Border Area Development Schemes’.
Thus a foundation of modern theatre was laid in Jammu, which continued unabated till 1990’s when rise of militancy led to temporary hiatus in cultural activities in the State, especially in Kashmir.
Regular theatre festivals by Cultural Academy, along with efforts of few dedicated groups like Nartang, Rangyug, Amateur Theatre Group, Shivani Cultural Society and others, the theatre in Jammu not only has remained active and ticking but also provided space for groups from Kashmir to showcase their plays in the winter capital.
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