[Reader-list] khetro broadsheet02 articles- Rekindling The Box Offices
Arijit Paul
audijit at yahoo.com
Thu Oct 28 11:46:26 IST 2004
<DEFANGED_DIV>
<DEFANGED_DIV>Dear friends,</DEFANGED_DIV>
<DEFANGED_DIV>I have got of the khetro broadsheet02. This issue
focuses on the ongoing debate about the changing shape
of cinema and theatre with the intervention of
newer technologies. It also carries articles
on Bengali desktop on Linux platform, and the
development of interactive identification keys for
monitoring biodiversity. I think the articles
will be of interest to many of you. So I am
posting them for open reading and discussion.</DEFANGED_DIV>
<DEFANGED_DIV>Arijit. </DEFANGED_DIV>
<DEFANGED_DIV> </DEFANGED_DIV>
<DEFANGED_DIV> </DEFANGED_DIV>
<DEFANGED_DIV>THIRD POSTING:</DEFANGED_DIV>
<DEFANGED_DIV>
<H1><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt;
mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Screen, Stage, and the
Multiplex<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></H1>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>Nilanjan
Bhattacharya</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>Multiplexes are in
and the cinema halls are not yet out though - but are
facing a serious threat to their existence. It’s
evident that this time the city of Calcutta is not
against the turn. Three multiplexes with multiple
film-screening options are already in existence and a
few more are coming up soon. Cinema as an ‘art’ might
be facing the hardest challenge since it’s invention
more than 100 years ago. The Challenge of being sold
as a ‘product’ along with many other products which do
not have any relation with ‘art’ per se. It is a
reality that multiplexes have enhanced the choices of
viewing, simply by keeping multiple film screening
theatres in one arena. And other options for consumers
- like fashion garments, fast food, footwear and
accessories - have followed. Sometimes this could
happen in reverse order. At least in these multiplex
units the ‘film’ and the ‘product’ relationship is
quite evident. People of the cities in India have now
more options to choose from, about what they are going
to do for the day, simply by standing inside a
multiplex. And it seems like that they want to avail
of this newfound autonomy.</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>Being the
government body responsible for the city’s management,
the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) - or in its
new appellation, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation
(KMC) - with their plans to develop shopping malls,
plazas, amusement parks and many other things, had
already entered the big booming construction industry
in our neo-Kolkata. In tune with this, they have taken
up a project, which comes up as a pioneering
initiative in the Indian context - turning the Star
Theatre into a theatre multiplex. </DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>Star Theatre is a
glorious name associated with Bengali culture, as it
was a thriving centre for commercial theatre since
1883. It also reminds us of a number of legendary
theatre stalwarts like Girish Ghosh, Binodini Dasi,
Amarendra Dutta, Ardhendusekhar, Prabha Devi, Sishir
Bhaduri and many others down the ages. The Star was
first inaugurated on 21<SUP>st</SUP> July 1883 at
Beadon Street in North Calcutta. It closed down in the
year 1887. The theatre came up again on
25<SUP>th</SUP> May 1888 at 75/3, Cornwallis Street,
Calcutta, under different ownership and it remained
open till 14<SUP>th</SUP> October 1991, the day it was
devastated by a fire. KMC had acquired the site in
2001. The multiplex will be inaugurated on
13<SUP>th</SUP> October 2004 on the auspicious day of
<I>Mahalaya</I>. </DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>The history of
Bengal’s proscenium theatre dates back more than 200
years. Even before the formalization of proscenium
commercial theatre in Bengal, the theatre or ‘play’
used to be considered as a ‘product’ for entertaining
the viewers. Performances of plays at rich people’s
courtyards in earlier days, or later, the use of words
like <I>bhalo samogry</I> (good product),<I> notun
notun jinish </I>(new things<I>)</I>,<I> </I>on the
top of the advertisement handbills to mention the
production itself, supports this orientation. The idea
of making ‘the product’ or the play more interesting
to draw more viewers had influenced the directors,
playwrights, and the producers of Bengali theatre. The
regular practice of putting independent song and group
dance items in between plays, or in the beginning, or
at the end, were meant to add the variety and to
increase the level of entertainment for the viewers.
</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>This trend
increased with Amarendra Nath Dutta, who brought
realism to the Bengal stage by introducing more
realistic sets, backdrops, and live properties for the
first time, during his period (1897-1916) of work as a
director, actor, playwright, and producer. Amarendra
Dutta with his Classic Theatre group brought in basic
changes in marketing strategy too. By improving the
paper quality, design and printing, of the
advertisements on handbills, introducing catchy,
colloquial and slightly subversive language in
handbills and newspaper advertisement columns,
printing programmes on hand fans which were to be
distributed among the viewers, Amaraendranath used to
goad sustained debates and enthusiasm with each of his
plays, in a way similar to the marketing of a
‘product’ nowadays. </DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>Much before
Amrendra Dutta came onto the scene, the Great National
Theatre (1873-1877) had introduced the concept of the
‘free gift’ for the viewers. This practice continued
for some time. Emerald Theatre (1887-1897) distributed
earrings and rings among the viewers, the National
Theatre used to distribute free gifts by lottery as
the show tickets used to carry numbers for the draw.
Ranging from umbrellas, or a bag of coal, to even a
slice of pumpkin, the gift items were exhibited in
front of the footlights! Amarendra Dutta’s Classic
Theatre had distributed books, like the complete works
of the Bengali poet and playwright Michael Madhusudan
Dutta and <I>Sabdakalpodrum,</I> as free gifts.
</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>All these acts and
strategies had positive effects temporarily on ticket
sales. It is also evident that the strategy of
distributing free gifts on a purchased show ticket had
reflected the act of tagging two or more ‘products’
together even in those days. We can also see the same
trend in performances by foreign theatre companies
here in Calcutta. Much later, an advertisement on
23<SUP>rd</SUP> Ddecember1936 in The Statesman,
carried an announcement of a free gift - a Hillman
“MINX” car - to the lucky winner on the last day of
the performance of the Hollywood musical, “Swing Time”
at the New Empire. </DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>From today’s point
of view a very strange thing took place in the
entertainment scene in Calcutta more than 100 years
ago. Again, Amarendranath Dutta was the man behind it.
He had introduced the screening of the bioscope on the
Bengali stage for the first time before the beginning
of his play, ‘Alibaba’, on 4th April 1898 at Classic
Theatre. (According to Shankar Bhattacharya’s
<I>Bangla Rangalayey Itihasher Upadan</I>, the first
time the bioscope was screened on stage in Calcutta
was at the Minerva Theatre on 31<SUP>st</SUP> January
1898.)</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>Within a year of
its invention, the bioscope was screened for the first
time in India in a Bombay hotel on 7<SUP>th</SUP> July
1896. Screenings of small length ‘moving pictures’
began in Calcutta in the same year. Those were the
early days of ‘cinema’ and the cinema hadn’t really
found its definition yet. Before the bioscope came
people around the world never had the experience of
seeing such a ‘technology miracle’ in front of their
eyes. No wonder that the advertisements of the
Bioscope used to carry such phrases like, “the eighth
wonder of the universe”. The surprise value was very
high at that time which had attracted people to this
newborn ‘media’. And like a senior, a big brother,
Bengali theatre had tried to adopt that child into his
own family, to bring it under his roof. </DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>To the theatre
directors and producers of the time, the bioscope was
a new ‘product’, which they found could go very well
with the theatre performances to increase a
production’s commercial draw. A list of productions of
the Star Theatre from Shankar Bhattacharya’s <I>Bangla
Rangalayey Itihasher Upadan</I>, shows that all the
evenings of the theatre performances between
2<SUP>nd</SUP> November 1898 to 31<SUP>st</SUP>
December ’98 were accompanied by bioscope screenings
at the end of the play. A typical evening’s programme,
like, for instance, that on 29<SUP>th</SUP> October
’98 included a bioscope show at the end of the play
<I>Babu</I>. The screen showed the death of Lord
Nelson, Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations
and the funeral procession of William Gladstone. The
screenings were followed by live entertainment - The
Rainbow Dance by Miss Nelly Mountcastle. It’s also
very significant that within the above mention period,
out of 26 days of performances there were 11 different
plays performed. This statistic shows the conscious
efforts by the producers, directors and the
playwrights to attract more viewers by offering
variety. Almost everything was attempted – mythology,
comedy, social tragedy, even patriotism.</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>On the other hand,
to an enthusiastic director like Amarendranath, who
had always believed in experimenting with different
aspects of theatre, the bioscope had come up with a
whole lot of possibilities of experimenting within the
structure of the play itself. An announcement of the
Classic Theatre in 1901 narrates: A s<I>eries of
superfine pictures from our world renowned plays
Vramar, Alibaba, Hariraj, Dolo Lila, Budha, Sitaram,
Sarala etc. will be produced to extreme astonishment
of our patrons and friends</I>.<DEFANGED_SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</DEFANGED_SPAN><DEFANGED_SPAN style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> &nb
sp; </DEFANGED_SPAN></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>With the help of
Amarendranath, Hiralal Sen’s Royal Bioscope Company
picturised some small scenes from the various plays of
Amarendranath. Amarendranath had used those scenes in
between his plays. Like in the play <I>Bhromor</I>, an
outdoor scene showed the hero, Gobindalal
(Amarendranath) approaching land from the river. He
was on a boat. As soon as the picture ended, viewers
could see Gobindalal entering the house on the stage!
It was true that Amarendranath had used that technique
primarily to thrill his viewers but consciously or
unconsciously he had actually improvised and adopted a
style, which later on became an accepted mode for many
modern theatre directors.</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>In this context
it’s quite interesting to observe the early attempts
to bring in the sense of multiplicity by offering
variations like putting bioscope scenes in the middle
of theatre shows, or performing a different play each
day. Other attractive elements like, magic shows and
dance performances, either before or after the main
play, were also thought up to boost the same sense of
multiplicity itself. So one may say that an undefined
structure for providing variety to the
clientele/audience was very much in existence in those
days. Though there was no concept of multiple stages
or screens then, like today’s multiplexes offer, the
provision of multiple choices to the viewers (seven
different plays in a week), the implementation of
aggressive marketing strategies (free gifts, media
hype, catchy advertisements) or the adoption of modern
techniques and technologies, were efforts to boost the
‘trade’. In a way, the early theatre industry of
Bengal had created an ambience quite similar to the
present day multiplex.<DEFANGED_SPAN style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </DEFANGED_SPAN></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>Now, when the
entertainment industry is at another point of
transition, two of our most powerful media art forms
are taking a turn towards a new definition of ‘art
entertainment’. Probably, with this strange twirl of
the ‘history’ or the ‘market’, the infrastructures of
both the theatre and the cinema industries are going
to look almost the same. It seems that they both are
destined to be sold, catered and distributed as
‘products’ along with so many similar or different
kinds of products available in the market. But at the
same time we cannot deny the fact that cinema and
theatre stand apart from other ‘products’ simply by
their power to mesmerize people. Both could also
provide the viewers food for thought, which may make
them feel empowered. These are the qualities, which
still hold the position of these art-entertainment
forms quite high in society.</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>The closing down
of more than 15 cinema halls within the main city of
Calcutta, in a span of five years, and the
obliteration of Bengali commercial theatre, have
signalled a kind of transition. Apparently it seems
that the youth of Calcutta have embraced their
newfound conviction in ‘multiplexism’. Already 3
multiplexes with multiple cinema screening facilities
have come up in the city, and another four (which all
together will have 24 screening theatres) will come
into existence soon. The Star multiplex will have one
theatre stage, one seminar hall and one open stage –
all centrally air-conditioned. The Mayor’s commitment
goes, “the chairs in the Star theatre hall will be
same as ‘Inox’ screening theatre”. The similarity does
not end there. Inside the Star Multiplex there would
be a café, fast food stalls and gift shops. There
would surely be free gifts, competitions, prizes and
pizzas…</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>With the digital
revolution, new ideas have started flooding in
followed by the newer technologies both in the fields
of cinema and theatre. New demands for widening the
creative interactions, exchange, and forms, have come
up. Now it is important to observe how much space or
scope the multiplexes provide for the new kind of
films or theatres. Or, indeed, how the new generation
of filmmakers or theatre directors can take advantage
of these multiplexes.<DEFANGED_SPAN style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </DEFANGED_SPAN></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>References:<DEFANGED_SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </DEFANGED_SPAN><I>Bangla
Shitya O Chalochchitra</I> by Dr. Nisith Kr.
Mukhopadhay/ <I>Bangla Rangaloyer Itihasher Upadan</I>
by Shankarlal Bhattacharya/ <I>Bangali Modhyobitter
Theatre</I> by Dr. Prosun Mukhopadhay/ <I>Rangalayey
Amarendranath</I> by Ramapati Dutta/ <I>Rangalayey
Trish Bwatsar</I> by Apareshchandra Mukhopadhay/
Natyochinta 20<SUP>th</SUP> anniversary
issue</DEFANGED_SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><DEFANGED_SPAN
lang=EN-GB> <o:p></o:p></DEFANGED_SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><DEFANGED_SPAN lang=EN-GB>* Nilanjan
Bhattacharya is a researcher and filmmaker, based in
Calcutta. </DEFANGED_SPAN></P></DEFANGED_DIV></DEFANGED_DIV>
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
More information about the reader-list
mailing list