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A really offended social media publish by a preferred theatre and cinema actor from Kolkata has drummed up a storm within the metropolis’s theatre scene. Daminee Benny Basu, who lately starred in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Charlie Chopra, referred to as out famend Kolkata theatre character, Suman Mukhopadhyay, for casting a person accused of sexual assault, in his newest play Tiner Talwar (written by Utpal Dutta). The accused, Sudipto Chatterjee, was referred to as out by various ladies on the peak of MeToo motion in 2019, two police complaints have been additionally filed towards him, one at Phoolbagan Police Station and the opposite at Beliaghata Police station. The instances are nonetheless beneath trial.
In her social media publish final week, Daminee addressed Suman and mentioned, “Our hearts break now with you choosing radio silence over what matters the most, in terms of dehumanising the struggle of so many women, young girls and young boys fighting for their rights over their safety in the theatre space? Is our safety, our harassment, or abuse not political, ‘bhodro’ or ‘alarming’ enough for any of you to talk about?”
Eventually, Mukhomukhi, the theatre group that staged the play, put out an announcement on behalf of all of the solid and crew members of the manufacturing Tiner Tolowar. The assertion learn, “Sudipto Chatterjee is no longer part of the production. He has been asked to quit after the first show. It was our wrong decision to include him in the play. We immediately rectified our mistake and removed him from the cast.”
In an open letter revealed in a Bengali each day, Suman Mukhopadhyay addressed the problem and mentioned that if he has harm the feelings of individuals, he’s regretful. “By casting Sudipto, if I have hurt the sentiments of people, I am deeply regretful…People who are protesting have not acknowledged the fact that Sudipto is no longer a part of the play. They are saying I have quietly removed him from the play, I don’t understand why that is wrong. Do they want me to call Sudipto before a performance and announce that he has been dropped from the play?” Suman acknowledged within the open letter. Suman Mukhopadhyay additionally declared that he’s discovering it “difficult to work in the Kolkata theatre scene”.”I’ve staged greater than 25 performs, made ten movies, and I’ve by no means confronted such a state of affairs. Even in spite of everything this, if I find yourself endangering folks from the trade, it’s certainly very unhappy. I’ve no proper to work within the theatre anymore,” he wrote.
Amitabh Ghosh, an actor of the Mukhomukhi group, confirmed to The Indian Express that Sudipto is not part of the play. “It was rectified immediately. He is no longer with the play. I, at least, don’t have any personal equation with him.”
Daminee Benny Basu, nevertheless, claims that this isn’t an remoted incident. “It’s not just about Sudipto Chattopadhyay and Suman Mukhopadhyay, there is a toxic culture here that needs to be addressed. Suman Mukhopadhyay is a brilliant director, he has taught many actors a lot of things, which is why it’s even more important to question him. We except better from him, especially when he was one of the first people to call Sudipto out in 2019, when women came out with their accounts. These cases are still under trial, so how has he changed his stance? How do you think the women involved feel about this?” Daminee asks.
Also Read | Kolkata: Theatre artiste arrested on charges of sexual harassment
Titas Samuho, who is part of Samuho, a queer and female-centric theatre group from Kolkata, feels that this incident is like “opening a can of worms”. “We have been talking about this since 2019, when MeToo movement happened. There are many enablers in the Kolkata theatre scene who are going out of their way to rehabilitate these men. There is an accused like Raja Bhattacharya, who was arrested under the POSCO act. But he is out on interim bail and has renowned personalities like Debshankar Haldar, who is a part of West Bengal Natya Akademi, acting in his plays,” says Titas.
Raja Bhattacharya, who runs a metropolis primarily based theatre group referred to as Blank Verse, was arrested in 2023 beneath the POSCO act, when a 20-year-old accused him of sexual abuse since she joined his group as a 12-year-old. Bhattacharya is out on interim bail and has staged performs within the metropolis after getting bail.
When The Indian Express contacted Debshankar Haldar, who can also be part of Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Tiner Talwar, he mentioned he has nothing to say about this. “Yes, I have heard about this. All I can say is that I have acted in Raja Bhattacharya’s play and that all there is to it,” he says.
Titas says that survivors will really feel disheartened by such a response. “They are people in positions of power, they should side with the vulnerable ones, not men who have been accused of abusing power,” she says. Daminee agrees, “Women, children and even men surrender their bodies to their art in the field of acting. Here trust is of utmost importance. When that is abused, it breaks us. We have to ensure that an impartial body is in place to monitor such things. Like POSH committees in workplaces,” she sums up.
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