Marwari women act out their dreams

KOLKATA: Housewife Hemlata Bhutoria, brought up in a small town in Rajasthan, hadn’t dreamt that after 18 years of marriage to a businessman from Kolkata, she would get a chance to revive her interest in theatre in 1995. Now eight years later, Bhutoria is the proud recipient of the Kalakar Award for performing the lead role in Kutumb, a social play reflecting the importance of housewives in a Marwari joint family.
“We began with a short play in an annual function to provide a platform for middle-aged housewives to showcase their creative talent and overcome their inhibitions of public performances,� recalled Bhutoria.
The overwhelming participation of the women members of socio-cultural club Sharks International led to debut venture of the newly formed Amateur Creative Theatre (ACT) on Sunday.
“Women are usually not encouraged to perform publicly in the Marwari community. The group is an effort to promote innate talent of such amateur artists,� said founder-member Rajendra Bhutoria, who started the group along with of his friends. Currently involved as a writer-director, Rajendra scripted the the first play of ACT based on the life of Meera Bai.
The plays also convey a social message through on stage. The 50 members cast aged between 20 to 50 years, have successfully staged 25 plays in the last five years including Vehem and Sawal Jawab — satires based on baseless superstitions and marriage system respectively.
Kutumb has been staged six times here and given the best Drama award by Cine Advance. “The group is like a family,� said ACT art director Sangeeta Chirimar, who took to acting for the first time in Meera Bai.
The making of each play, though is not a simple affair. “For Meera Bai, I had to read over 35 books and it took me about six months to finalise the script,� said Rajendra. “But at the end of it all the personal satisfaction for all our hard work is worth it,� he said.