Sadhana Ahmed’s SAPTAPARNEE Directors: Sohag Sen, Sima Mukhopadhyay, Suranjana Dasgupta, Tulika Das, Adrija Dasgupta, Abanti Chakraborty, Ishita Mukhopadhyay

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Playwright: Sadhana Ahmed

Director: Sohag Sen, Sima Mukhopadhyay, Suranjana Dasgupta, Tulika Das, Adrija Dasgupta, Abanti Chakraborty, Ishita Mukhopadhyay

Group: Rangakarmee, Kolkata

Language:  Hindi & Bengali

Duration:   1 hr 30 mins

The Play

Saptaparnee is a collage of seven mono-acts shaped after seven women characters sketched by Tagore. They have been chosen from his novels, dramas, poems and short stories. A craving for love, and an unending search for fulfilment run through them.

Director’s Note

Saptaparnee is a tribute to the creative genius of Rabindranath Tagore and his oeuvre. We find his texts extremely rich in nuances. They motivate us to read between the lines, to search for more and more meaning hidden underneath. Rabindranath has this rare ability to keep us together at a time which is out of joint.

The Directors

Sima Mukhopadhyay, Director of Chandara, is a director, playwright and actor from Kolkata. She received Master’s Degree in Drama (Acting) from Rabindra Bharati University in 1985. At present she heads Rangroop.

Suranjana Dasgupta, Director of Kadambini, is a director, playwright, actor and singer from Kolkata. Suranjana made her film debut in Aparna Sen’s 15 Park Avenue. She has also acted in a telefilm titled Antigone Chatterjee with Anjan Dutta.

Tulika Das, Director of Chitrangada, is a director and actor from Kolkata. She was associated with Bohurupee theatre group for 28 years. In 2015, Tulika directed Nero. At present she is associated with the theatre group Bohuswar.

Adrija Dasgupta, Director of Malati, is a director, designer and actor from Kolkata. She received her PG Diploma-in-Drama (with Specialization in Acting) from NSD. Adrija is a committed theatre worker who keeps conducting theatre workshops and directing children’s productions for the economically deprived and physically challenged children.

Sohag Sen, Director of Damini, is a theatre-director and actor-trainer based in Kolkata. Her association with theatre and allied media spans a period of almost forty years. As an actor, she started her career under the guidance of the legendary Utpal Dutta, in the year 1969. Sohag Sen has been a visiting faculty at National School of Drama, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata Film and Television Institute, The Film and Television Institute, and The Calcutta Media Institute.

Abanti Chakraborty, Director of Nandini, is a theatre director based in Kolkata. A Masters in Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies from Hyderabad Central University, Abanti had been a Special Fellow in Directing, at Yale School of Drama in 2010. In 2010 she received the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in Theatre Direction from Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Ishita Mukhopadhyay, Director of Ela, is active in Bengali theatre for more than three decades. Her first directorial venture was an adaptation of The Room by Sartre. Her group Ushnik was formed in 1984.

The Playwright

Sadhana Ahmed is a cultural activist and a poet-cum-playwright based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sadhana participated in various artistic movements that led to the fall of military rule in Bangladesh in the late-1980s. She was the Founder-President of Sparsha Abritti Parishad that operated from Bhairab. Sadhana Ahmeder Duti Natak, her first book consisting of Domer Madar and Maatbring, was published in February 2017.

The Group

Established in 1976 with a small set-up, Rangakarmee today spearheads the Hindi theatre in Kolkata with 43 productions in its repertoire. Rangakarmee has performed not only in India but also in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Germany and USA.

Cast & Credits

Chandara of Shasti: Karuna Thakur

Director: Sima Mukhopadhyay

Kadambini of Jibito O Mrito: Mrinmoyee Biswas

Director: Suranjana Dasgupta

Chitrangada of Chitrangada: Anubha Fatehpuria

Director: Tulika Das

Malati of Sadharan Meye: Maya Ghosh

Director: Adrija Dasgupta

Damini of Chaturanga: Senjuti Mukherjee

Director: Sohag Sen

Nandini of Raktakarabi: Kathakali

Director: Abanti Chakraborty

Ela of Char Adhyay: Sanchayita Bhattacharjee

Director: Ishita Mukhopadhyay

Calligraphy: Hiran Mitra

Production Coordinator: Tripti Mitra

Production Assistant: Anirudh Sarkar

Set in-charge: Shankar Dey

Music operator: Pradeep Dutta

Light operator: Shashanka Mondal

Stage Design: Sanchayan Ghosh

Light Design: Badal Das

Music Score: Bhadra Basu

Dramaturge: Anshuman Bhowmick

Original Scrip: Sadhana Ahmed

Concept: Usha Ganguli

Manohar Khushalani

Manohar Khushalani

Prof. Manohar Khushalani is a former Visiting Faculty at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. The courses he taught were: Animation & Graphics, Non-Linear Editing for Film and Radio and Theatre Appreciation.  He has won a total of nine Excellence in Teaching awards for all the courses he has taught at IIITD Earlier he retired from Government of India as Director Environment Management, Central Water Commission and held many senior positions in the Government Based on a Belief that Culture and Environment are the two keys to global sustainability , Manohar Khushalani has launched two portals: A Portal on Environment and Water called One Vorld at url: www.onevorld.org and two Ezines on Culture called Stage Buzz at url: www.stagebuzz.in He has taught extensively in varied subjects such as Dam Safety, Instrumentation, CAD, IT, Animation, Theatre, Newspaper Editing. He has conducted Courses on Environment Management, Water Shed Development, Team Building and Personality Development. He was an Expert Member of Prasar Bharti’s Committee for Grading & Short listing Films for Telecast on all channels of Doordarshan.  He is a Radio Anchor for All India Radio and has moderated several programs for the Rajdhani Channel He is a well-known Theatre Actor/Director and Critic, has been involved in theatre since 1977. He has worked as an actor in over 50 plays with almost every leading director/Actor in the Country including Badal Sircar, Feisal Alkazi, Amal Allana, M.K. Raina, Anuradha Kapoor, Maya Rao, Manohar Singh, Prasanna, Rati Bartholomew and Sushmita Mukherji. He has been active in the social sector as a street theatre activist. As a member of Workshop Theatre, Theatre Union and Prayog, Khushalani has participated in street plays taking up major social issues such as dowry, bride burning, Sati, banned medicinal drugs and communalism. Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay Won’t Pay, both directed by him, received rave notices from critics and audiences alike. Other plays directed by him include Badal Sircar’s, Sagina Mahato and Boris Vian’s Empire Builders for Ruchika Theatre Group. Khushalani has also acted in a few films such as Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi , Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café and Pradeep Krishan's Annie Gives Those Ones. He is an Animator & Graphics Designer and has directed a number of documentaries. He also held a number of Honorary positions and was President of North India Films Association, He was the Chairman of  Jury for UGC CEC Educational Films Competition and has been on their Preview Committee since last many years. He was on the preview committee of Door Darshan Channel 3, was a visiting Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, AJKMCRR, Jamia Milia Islamia and Professor in Media at FICT, Delhi  He has judged a large number of Drama Competitions and conducted a number of Theatre / Management Games Workshops with Institutions such as AIIMS, NTPC, CWPRS, NWA, Karve Nari Prakshishan Sansthan, FICT, IIT, MAMC, Gargi College, KNC, Tagore International School and Vivekananda School. He is a Theatre Critic for IIC Diary, has also been a Columnist with Midday and Pioneer Daily and wrote Column's Called Culture Cocktail and Footlights Respectively. He was also the Guest Editor for an issue on Folk Theatre of ICCR Journal Horizons. He has written for Times of Indian, Hindustan Times, Blitz, Hard News, Hindu Business Line, Theatre India & Art Times. He has designed dams and hydraulic structures for the Government. He is a programmer and has developed Engineering design software in Fortran. He is a co-author of Irrigation Practice & Design (Vol 1 to5 - 1500 pages) published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust. He has been a Director, Environment and Sociology, at the National Water Academy, Khadakwasla and Director, Environment Management Directorate, Central Water Commission and Member Secretary, National Environmental Monitoring Committee for River Valley Projects. He was also Director of Instrumentation Directorate in the Dam Safety Organisation. He was Chief General Manager and Head of Water Resources at Scott Wilson and is an accredited consultant with numerous other organizations He is a Delhi Public School, BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi and FTI Pune Alumini. He was also the President of BITS Pilani Alumni Association, Pune.

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