Entertainment - On the Move;Orissa (V.G.Read)

HARIHARAN BALAKRISHNAN


Despite the lack of governmental support, this ancient art form has not only survived but is also flourishing in Orissa, says Kapilas Bhuyan whose film on Jatra won a National Award recently.


Jatra is an ancient theatre form of Orissa, dated by some historians to the second century B.C. when King Kharavela patronised music and drama. This travelling theatre was revived some 130 years ago, and has undergone rapid transformation and modernisation during the past 25 years.

Today, it is a thriving industry, more than an art form. It generates an income of Rs. 150 crores and employs more than 20,000 semi-literate people across the State. In addition, some 10,000 people find indirect, seasonal employment in various parts of the State during performances.

Though it is fast edging out Oriya cinema in popularity, Jatra is not recognised as an industry by the government. The troupes engaged in Jatra tour perform across the State for 260 days in a year.

Interesting feature

Kapilas Bhuyan has documented the life and times of this group of people in “Jatra Jeevan, Jeevan Yatra”. The film gives glimpses of actors and the action, producers and singers, labourers and technicians, as well as old men in their 70s who spent more than half a century on the stage and are now living a life of penury in their dotage.

“JJ, JY” bagged the National Award in the Best Non-Fiction Film in Art/Culture category for 2006.

Bhuyan, who conceived and directed this 50-minute venture, had earlier received the Jury’s Special Mention at the New York Short Film Festival in 2003, as well as the Best Short Film Award at the Festival du Cinema de Paris in the same year. This is his 2nd directorial attempt.

One interesting feature of this film is that the sutradar does not open his mouth, but does all his talking through silent written commentary in English script. The comments of various protagonists are in Oriya, with correct sub-titles in English.

When asked what inspired him to make a film on this subject, he recalled the single-handed effort of the late Dhiren Das, who tried to connect jatra to the hoary tradition of Kharavela, but met with stiff opposition from the entrenched Establishment. “I am trying to take it on the same route, since I also believe that ‘jatha’ mentioned in the engravings of the Khandagiri caves is nothing but jatra.”

“The idea of making a film on Jatra ‘some day’ came to my mind in 1992. During my childhood in the 1960s, I had seen jatra played by theatre groups. Jaganmohan Lalla wrote the nataks some 130 years ago. The themes were mostly social and the medium was prose. In the 1940s, theatre groups came into the picture and jatra became popular once again. In the 1960s, Baishnab Pani was largely responsible for rejuvenation of this mass entertainment through his geeti natya form. The movement waned for a while after his demise. Later, during the 1980s, Jatra was revived with a lot of people getting into it as a business. Meanwhile, technology had also improved, and the new entrepreneurs went into business with all modern trappings. The decline of Oriya cinema was also one reason for people turning to this form of entertainment. During my travels for the film, I saw a great deal of interest in Jatra among common people, since it captures the rural sensibilities. I personally know many people from this world and used to talk to them about their lives. I thought it would be fascinating to make people know a little of what I saw and heard. Opportunity came knocking when the Centre for Civil Society discussed a film project with me, and liked the idea.”

The film took six months, during which Kapilas Bhuyan and his team travelled with Jatra parties to every corner of Orissa and filmed them on and off stage. Interviews with artistes and technicians reveal that most of them are happy with their lot, though some rue the long separation from their families for nine months in a year.

Some of them have married co-artistes and in such cases the entire family “moves with a trunk and a stove”. Good actors who are much in demand get VIP treatment and liberal allowances. Some earn as much as Rs. 10,00,000 a year. They are a pampered lot. Poaching by other groups is common in this fiercely competitive field.

Popular film personalities like Meenaketan make good money through Jatra when they are not shooting, particularly when not many Oriya films are in the making. Their names have the ability to pull extra crowds, and it becomes a win-win situation for both organiser and actor.

Powerful impact

Most people who come to jatra shows say they enjoy the live portrayal of their own lives compared to the Bollywood clones dished out by Oriya cinema these days. While cinema is taken to people through a mere 130 outlets, there are more than 1000 outlets for Jatra throughout Orissa.

Kapilas Bhuyan strongly feels that government should make use of this medium to reach out to the people with social messages, since it is more powerful, and deeper in impact than Gramsat TV.

Today, Jatra has evolved from being folk entertainment to an entertainment industry itself. Some troupes enact 300 shows in the 260 days of the year though repeat shows in some days.

In June-July, they return to their base camps and fresh plays are prepared for the next year — normally three. Even while on tour, another two plays are prepared and rehearsed. Thus, on an average, each troupe has five plays at hand to enact in a year. More than 100 such troupes travel round the State for most of the year.

Jatra has survived, and is flourishing without any external support. Maybe it is time that government wakes up to its potential, recognises it as an industry and takes advantage of this medium for information, education and sensitisation of society in its own enlightened self-interest.

Recognition of jatra as an industry could also serve a social purpose by ensuring the security of this vast mass of semi-literate entertainers, who would have otherwise added to the army of migrant labour from Orissa every year.