[Reader-list] condemning ban on Charandas Chor

[anupam chakravartty]

The Chattisgarh government perhaps doesnt realise that mythological epic,
Ramayana was written by a dacoit.

On 8/4/09, prakash ray <pkray11 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Press Release condemning ban on Charandas Chor:
> We are shocked to learn from press reports that the BJP government of
> Chhattisgarh has banned Charandas Chor, a classic of the modern Indian
> theatre, written and produced by Habib Tanvir. The play was first done in
> the 1970s, and is originally based on an oral folk tale from Rajasthan.
> Habib Tanvir worked on this tale, introducing into it elements of the art
> and beliefs of the Satnami community. Satnami singers and dancers have
> performed in this play, and it has been seen by members of the community
> several times. In Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, there are several rural
> troupes who are today performing some version of this play.
>
> The play itself is the story of a thief who, under the influence of a guru,
> pledges never to tell a lie. He sticks to his pledge, even at the cost of
> his life. This superb tragic-comedy, in a thoroughly entertaining and
> artistic manner, brings into focus the moral and ethical degeneration of
> our
> society, in which, paradoxically, it is a thief who ends up being more
> honest than those who supposed to be the custodians of our morality.
>
> Charandas Chor remains Habib Tanvir’s best-known play, and has been
> performed literally hundreds of times by his world-renowned Naya Theatre
> troupe all over India and in several countries across the world. It was
> made
> into a film by Shyam Benegal, with Smita Patil in the lead, in 1975, and
> was
> the first Indian play to win the prestigious Fringe First award at the
> Edinburgh Theatre Festival in 1982. It then did a successful run on the
> London stage.
>
> We demand that the Chhattisgarh government immediately revoke this absurd
> ban.
>
> Arvind Gaur
> Brijesh
> Govind Deshpande
> Javed Malick
> Madangopal Singh
> M.K. Raina
> Moloyashree Hashmi
> N.K. Sharma
> Shahid Anwar
> Sudhanva Deshpande
> Vivan Sundaram
> Wamiq Abbasi
> Act One Theatre Group
> Asmita Theatre Group
> Bahroop Art Group
> Jana Natya Manch
> Jan Sanskriti
> Janvadi Lekhak Sangh
> Sahmat
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