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Indian Express
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Ratan Thiyam showed that the more rooted you are, the more universal you become
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
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘Theatre was his protest': Pune remembers Ratan Thiyam
Around 50 people gathered at the condolence meeting held at The Box in Pune to remember one of the most towering figures of Indian theatre, Ratan Thiyam. The event had eminent director Atul Pethe reading excerpts from a write up about Thiyam and playwrights Ashutosh Potdar and Satish Alekar and filmmaker and film educator Anupam Barve talking about Thiyam. Thiyam died at 76 at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal. The condolence meeting recalled the influence of Thiyam, who had brought many of his iconic plays to Pune. Alekar shared many important incidents, facts and insights about Thiyam, his theatre and Manipuri tradition and culture. Thiyam's works seamlessly merged ancient Indian performance traditions with contemporary narratives. His death marks the end of an era in Indian performing arts. Thiyam was a recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987 and is remembered as a theatre guru who redefined the language of stagecraft in India. 'This is a massive loss to the cultural field of Manipur, and Indian theatre as a whole. A few years ago, we lost the other side of the coin, the director Heisnam Kanhailal. Now, with Ratan ji gone, Manipuri theatre has lost both its giants,' said Alekar, a Marathi playwright and co-founder of the Theatre Academy of Pune. Born on January 20, 1948, Thiyam was a student of Ebrahim Alkazi at the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi. 'He didn't replicate Alkazi's theatre. Thiyam created his own theatre with his own roots- Manipuri roots, which are distinctly different from Indian mainstream traditions,' said Alekar. In plays, such as Antigone, Urubhangam, Ritusamhara and Andha Yug, Thiyam developed a language of theatre that was spiritually intense, visually immersive, and politically resonant. 'Andha Yug was not just a play. It was a complete visual and sonic experience. The chorus was composed entirely of Manipuri performers. It became a tragedy of the people of Manipur told through a new angle. That was the genius of Ratan Thiyam,' said Anirudha Kuthwad, director and theatre educator associated with NSD and FTII. Thiyam often referred to theatre as a medium of protest, not mere performance. 'He believed in theatre as a tool to voice the pain of his people. He once said in a discussion, 'I see theatre as protest. I see the play as a protest.' And that's how he lived it,' added Kuthwad. One of his later landmark productions, When We Dead Awaken, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's work, was placed in the contemporary context of Manipur's turmoil, reinforcing his commitment to using myth to critique the present. Kuthwad echoed the sentiment, 'We may never see someone like him again. His devotion, his creative energy, even in his senior years was unmatched. He didn't just take Manipuri theatre to India, he took it to the world.' 'The government should take note of what Ratan and Kanhailal built. What Manipur needs right now is not more politics, but cultural intervention- classical concerts, traditional performances, contemporary plays grounded in reality. That would be the true homage to Ratan Thiyam's life's work,'said Alekar.
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
Comedian John Early's directorial debut ‘Maddie's Secret' to premiere at TIFF
People walk the closed-off streets at the Toronto International Film Festival, in Toronto, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette NSD/ flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Time of India
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Renowned theatre icon Ratan Thiyam passes away at 77
Synopsis Renowned theatre personality and Padma Shri awardee Ratan Thiyam passed away in Imphal at 77 after a prolonged illness. Known for fusing Manipuri traditions with modern theatre, he founded Chorus Repertory Theatre and briefly led NSD. His death sparked tributes from leaders across India, recognising his cultural legacy and lasting impact on Indian performing arts.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Theatre director Ratan Thiyam, one of the most outspoken proponents of freedom and personal identity, dies in Imphal
More than a month after ethnic violence, between the Meitiei and Kuki-Zo people, erupted in Manipur in 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that it was setting up a peace committee that would have Chief Minister N Biren Singh and 50 others, such as Padma Shri-awardee theater director Ratan Thiyam, as members. Thiyam was not having any of it. Telling the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it was time that he spoke up and showed a strong political will, Thiyam rejected the invitation to join the committee. 'A strong political will is needed to solve the problem. If it is not done, where will the people go?' he had said. With the passing of Thiyam in Imphal on Wednesday, India has lost one of the most outspoken proponents of freedom and personal identity. For the world of art, especially theatre, it is a deep loss as Thiyam was one of the masters who reinvented the stage with every play and made even seniors practitioners think. Anuradha Kapur, a theatre maker and the former director of the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, India's prominent academy for theatre studies, says that Thiyan made them relearn. 'In the 1950s and '60s, theatre practitioners believed that words were the primary means to tell a story on stage. Thiyam staged Chakravyuh in 1984, and made us aware of a composite theatre image, which uses visuals, image-making, vocalisation, sound, costume, lights, percussion, costume and movements, to create absolute magic. To me, this is the heart of theatre,' she says. In Uttar Priyadarshi, the entrance of an elephant is presented in a language of light, in which certain body parts, such as an arm or the top, were lit up and the rest hidden in darkness. 'Instead of denoting damage or injury, the use of light from various angles made the body look poetic. Many of Thiyam's images remain in one's mind as a kind of jewel glittering in the memory,' says Kapur. Thiyam was one of the leading figures of Theatre of Roots, a post-Independence movement of decolonisation in which artists returned to their culture and traditions to create works. Kapur remembers watching plays in which the actors glided over the stage with movements drawn from Manipuri traditions, such as Thang-Ta. 'He played with very fluid movements and redefined movement in drama. The plays had choreography and music but were not musicals. Thiyam broke the bounds and was able to make us look at the proscenium as a framed space of magical images,' she says. It is significant that Thiyam, who spoke six languages and understood eight, made plays only in Manipuri and presented these without subtitles all over the world. He was one of the earliest directors to regularly show his plays on international platforms. Thiyam was the first winner from India of the prestigious Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival in 1987. Was Thiyam's intuitive understanding of the elements of performance due to his birth? His parents, Manipuri classical dancers Thiyam Tarun Kumar and Bilasini Devi, were on tour in Nabadwip, West Bengal, when Thiyam was born. He grew up travelling with them, playing in green rooms and the wings as some of the most powerful artistes of Manipur went over their lines and craft. 'I was soaking it all in, though I didn't realise it then. This was also the time that I learned to observe people, from the pedestrians to the policemen,' he once said. Thiyam honed his craft at NSD, where he also became a Director. Thiyam's politics, to a large extent, came from books, especially those of Che Guevara. As a child, he dreamed of travelling to Cuba to become a revolutionary. Thiyam carried the zeal into his life in theatre. He created plays when 'ideas start knocking on my head and giving a kick to my buttock'. As an artist, he was affected by events in society and this is what his plays revealed. His great tragedies, Karnabharam (1976) and Urubhangam (1981), showed the antagonists of the Mahabharata, Karna and Duryodhana, as heroes. The people of Manipur were locked in a struggle against security forces – and Thiyam's plays forced audiences to reconsider their stereotypes of heroes and villians. Thiyam's son, Thawai Thiyam, says that the director was planning to stage a Greek play, before his health deteriorated. While we do not know the details of this project, Thiyam left an urgent message for the audience way back in 2020, when global warming was not a buzzword. He had staged Lairembigee Eshei (The Song of the Nymphs) for the closing ceremony of the 21st Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the international theatre festival organised by NSD. In the play, a hedonistic king, who fells trees and destroys nature, is cursed by mother nature with an incurable disease. 'It may be helpful for us to go back to nature and try to understand what it wants to give to you. Nature provides us with a lasting form of pure energy but we are ignoring it,' Thiyam had said at the time.
