''Poshu Khamar'' (first staged in 2006) is a political

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

drama produced by the theatre group

Pancham Baidik Pancham Baidik is a Bengali theatre group directed by Shaoli Mitra. ''Nathabati Anaathabat'', the group's first production was staged in 1983. Productions * ''Nathabati Anaathabat'' * ''Katha Amritasaman'' * ''Rajnaitik Hatya'' * ''Poshu Khama ...

and directed by

Arpita Ghosh Arpita Ghosh, is an Indian theatre artist and politician who serves as a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. She has served as the Member of Parliament of the 16th Lok Sabha for Balurghat (Lok Sabha constituency), West Bengal. ...

. The drama was Bengali adaptation of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

''. Political administration attempted to ban the staging of this drama because of its political sensitivity and the upcoming election.

Plot

Inspired by

's ''

'' the drama was a satire and criticised the communist regime of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

Cast

* Debatosh Ghosh * Saoli Mitra * Arpita Ghosh * Debkamal Mondal * Swapan Adhya * Palash Das * Pallab Banerjee * Tushar Roy

Controversy

Because of the political nature of the drama and the satirical comments targeting the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in term ...

, which was the ruling party of West Bengal at that moment, the staging of the play was attempted to be banned by state authority. On March 14, 2011 the drama was scheduled to be staged Bansberia in the Hooghly district. The show was to start at 6 pm but the theatre group received an order from district administration where they were asked to cancel the show. Armed local police force with the directive of the additional district magistrate went there to stop the staging of the drama. They cited the violation of the code of conduct ahead of the upcoming election as the reason to stop the staging of the drama. This action of political administration was criticised by state's intellectuals, theatre artistes and students' organisation. Theatre artistes, students gathered in front of the Academy of Fine Arts and showed their protest. Theatre personality

Bibhas Chakraborty Bibhas is a Hindustani classical raga. Theory Bibhas (sometimes also called 'Vibhas') is a pentatonic raga belonging to the Bhairav Thaat. This Raga is sung during daybreak. It is quite similar to Raga Deshkar as changing the Shuddha Dha and ...

told– "During the Singur and Nandigram episode, many plays that criticised the state government's decision, were stopped from being staged. Despite repeated requests, the chief minister did not initiate any step at that time"

References

External links

Information on ''Poshu Khamar'' in Pancham Baidik's official website
{{Animal Farm Bengali-language plays Indian plays Animal Farm Plays based on novels 2006 plays