Ratan Thiyam showed that the more rooted you are, the more universal you become

Indian Express

5 days ago

Written by Salim Arif
It was in Lucknow that I first got to see a Manipuri production of Bhasa's Uru Bhangam, done by actors from Imphal. The person who had directed that exceptional piece of theatre was Ratan Thiyam, and the play left a huge impression on me. The combination of raw tribal intensity and lyrical visual dynamics lent the Mahabharata-based text a new vigour and sensitivity rarely seen in Indian theatre. For me, Thiyam became a director to follow. It would be later that he would become a friend and mentor.
Indian theatre, then, was finding its idiom with the incorporation of elements of traditional performing arts in contemporary plays. Hayavadana, Ghashiram Kotwal, Charandas Chor, Ala Afsar were part of this new trend of using traditional folk and classical art embellishments in theatre. Habib Tanvir, BV Karanth, KN Panikkar were creating exciting productions that inspired several young directors to follow suit. Ratan Thiyam was one of them. A painter and a poet, what made him different was his keen understanding of the traditional performing art forms of Manipur and a unique visual sense.
Thiyam's parents were acclaimed Manipuri dancers, and Ratan da, (as I called him) imbibed the delicate nuances of dance form and music before he joined the National School of Drama (NSD) in 1971. He was also an expert thang-ta (the vigorous sword fight of Manipur) practitioner. The training under Ebrahim Alkazi at NSD opened a whole new world of visual and performing arts for him. Yakshagana, kathakali, tamasha, bhavai, nautanki, as well as kabuki and noh were all part of the training exposure. These were complemented by regular visits to art galleries and film festivals. He also acted as Yuyutsu in Alkazi's ambitious Andha Yug, done in kabuki style and staged at the Purana Qila open-air theatre — a role he got, he was fond of saying, because of his ability to run and climb the steep stairs of the ancient fort.
Ratan da understood the value of a culturally rooted theatre during his days at NSD. He learnt the importance of stagecraft — of a well-mounted production with aesthetically used colour schemes, spectacular visuals created with the precise use of lights and aural texture — under Alkazi's watchful eyes. These would become his hallmark in plays like Uru Bhangam, Karnabharam, Chakravyuha, Ritusamhara, Uttar Priyadarshi, to name a few. Like Akira Kurosawa, Thiyam assimilated the narrative traditions of Greek and Japanese theatre and our own Natyashastra to create a spectacular body of work.
After graduating from NSD in 1974, Ratan da opened his Chorus Repertory Theatre in Imphal, his hometown, in 1976 and started to groom actors. By 1978, he was touring with his plays to far-off places across the country. It was in January 1984 that we, as third-year students of NSD, went to Imphal to work with Ratan da for three months and do a production of Andha Yug using Manipuri art forms. Those three months gave us an insight into how Ratan da kept his theatre going in difficult conditions. Those were the days of insurgency, and curfew was imposed by 6 pm every evening. Working with Petromax lanterns, without electricity or basic facilities, we were kept away from the city in a camp created on the land where his repertory stands today. It was an open field near a pond, and each day we were shown several performances and learnt from various gurus in that space. Afterwards, all these elements would come together in our production of Andha Yug. At the time, the only access to the outside world was the evening newspapers that came from Calcutta by air, and we would rush to get them and return before curfew set in.
This was the way his actors were trained for years, and we were only following the pattern. It was remarkable that all the props, costumes and accessories were also made by his team, some of whom would also cook for us. The financial support that Ratan da got for his company as a grant was not much, and he subsidised it by hiring out light and sound equipment to others and getting some additional money for his team.
Since that trip, Ratan da remained a life-long mentor and a friendly elder who would look me up whenever he was in Mumbai. I still remember his calls after he saw my work in Bharat Ek Khoj, Mirza Ghalib and Chanakya. I would also look forward to opportunities to visit Imphal to meet him. Ratan da became the director of NSD in 1987 for two brief years. Before he left, he organised a much-awaited convocation that had batches from 1974 to 1986 return to take their diplomas from Alkazi, who agreed to come back for the occasion. It was interesting to see Ratan da take his own diploma certificate — signed by himself — from Mr Alkazi. Later on, as the chairperson of NSD, he was responsible for getting the Theatre Olympics to India in 2017-18.
Ratan da put Manipuri theatre on the world stage. After Habib Tanvir, he remains the most acknowledged and awarded of Indian theatre practitioners abroad. Like Habib saab, he brought a socially conscious worldview to his plays. But unlike Habib saab, his plays were created in difficult political circumstances. The yearning for peace amidst Manipur's political turmoil remained a lasting theme, often layered under the spectacles he created on stage. The fusion of a strong regional sensitivity with a modern sensibility will remain Thiyam's lasting legacy, proving that the more rooted you are, the more universal you become.
The writer, an NSD alumnus, is a theatre practitioner and costume designer