My name is Gauharjan by Sumitro Banerjee
The Play
The play is an autobiography of Gauharjan, who was a famous classical singer of India. She was born in 1873 in Ajamgarh. Her mother Malkajan too was a renowned classical singer. In 1883 Malka came to Calcutta to perform and settled there permanently. During her stay in Calcutta with her mother,Gauharjan developed a keen interest in singing and dancing. Gradually she became a famous classical singer.
Director’s Note
The inherent blessings of God introduced Gauharjan to the country and the world. Her reations & presentations in Hindustani Classical Music brought about the recognition of Gauharjan world-wide. But to achieve mental peace & happiness Gauharjan stopped performing, and decided to embrace love and lead a social life. But the pious desire of Gauharjan ended in smoke. Except for Amrit Keshab Nayak (the famous playwright, director and hero of Gujarati & Hindi Theatre) who died soon after they met, she could not find any man whom she could truly love. She was deceived on the pretext of love by other men. The play deals with the miseries of her later life.
Director
Priyanku Sekhar Das achieved success early in life as an actor by performances in various plays. As an Assistant Director he has successfully assisted in the direction of plays like Bharat Puran, Desodrohi, Dak Ghar. As a director he has directed Sesh Adhyaya, Jagaran Pala and My name is Gauharjan.
The Playwright
Sumitro Banerjee is the founder director of Sanyogsutra, a theatre group. He has done his masters in Buddhist studies and Mass Communication from Calcutta and Rabindra Bharati University. His early play Jhara Somoyer Kabyo (Based on the life and times of Mirza Ghalib) received the prestigious Sundaram award. Some of his major plays are Birpurus, Muche Jaoa Din Guli, and My Name Is Gauharjan. Sumitro has participated in national and international workshops and seminars organized by NSD, Delhi and other institutions.
Translator
Sri Sandip Bagchi has been writing, translating and producing plays since his youth. He trans created Macbeth in Bengali as Mobarak. He has written almost a dozen plays. Some of his popular productions are Raja Krishnanath, Bhor, The Car of Time and Siraj.
The Group
Prantik is a registered theatre group of Berhampore, Murshidabad, West Bengal. Since 1968 Prantik is organizing workshops and producing plays regularly. It has bagged many awards and certificates of excellence for various productions. Prantik is known for its milestone production Nana Hey in 1978. The popularity of Prantik has reached its zenith by staging the play My name is Gauharjan.
Cast & Credits
Gauhar (Child) : Oshiaan Das Bhattacharya
Gauhar (Teen) : Oishi Bhattacharya
Gauhar (Young) : Ranita Lahiri/Piyali Roychowdhury
Gauhar (Senior) & Malkajan : Jhulan Bhattacharjee
Salma : Ritwika Bhattacharjee / Ananya Rajbanshi
Ashia : Swasti Bhattacharya
Rehena : Ishani Bhattacharya
Bhaglu : Ardhendu Majumder
Ganesh Chandra Chandra/Moulana Sowkat Ali : Tapan Jyoti Das
Goswami : Priyanku Sekhar Das
Bose : Goutam Majumder
Roy Sahab/Ganpat Rou : Goutam Bhattacharya
Mitra : Bidyut Baran Mahajan
Representatives : Sadhan Roy, Sidhartha Mahajan
Chagon : Anwar Hossain
Abbas : Somnath Bhattacharya
Tabla Assit. : Amit Moitra
Maid : Moumita Saha
Set & Light : Shyamaprasahad Bandhyopadhy
Set & Assistant : Rahul Das, Srabon Saha
Set Drawing : Soumen Mondal
Music : Subhamoy Bandhyopadhy
Make-up : Kanai Routh, Praloy Routh
Music Execution : Kajal Mondal
Costume : Jhulan Bhattacharya
Dresser : Abanish Chandra Sinha, Moumita Saha
Technical Assistant : Nilanjan Pandey
Still Photography : Tamoghnajyoti Das
Team Manager : Sabir Zaman
Playwright : Sumitro Banerjee
Editing, Design & Direction : Priyanku Sekhar Das