Acting politicians steal the show in theatre

Barrackpore, May 25 (UNI) Politicians can be good actors, not only for the sake of politics, but also in theatres.

That is exactly what CPI(M) member in Parliament from West Bengal Tarit Baran Topder proved even as former Congress minister and MP from the state Ajit Kumar Panja has a similar feat to his credit.

While barrister-cum-politician Ajit Kumar Panja proved his excellence as a good actor as "Lord Ramakrishna Parmhansa" in the Bengalee play 'Nati Benodini', which achieved world-wide popularity, teacher-turned-politician Mr Topdar proved his mettle by playing the role of a king in "Ajker Rahumukta"(Today's freedom from demon), a metaphoric drama based on anti-imperialistic socio-political story.

It was a modified version of a drama Rahumukta played by an eminent actor Gyanesh Mukherjee in the late 60s and early 70s of the last century.

The drama Rahumukta, originally written by Biru Mukherjee, earned immense popularity in this part of the country, highlighting the impact of imperialists' aggression in the third world countries inspiring communism against congress domination in India.

"Ajker Rahumukta", played by Mr Topdar among other professional actors - Paran Bandopadhyay, Meghnad Bhattacharya, Soumitra Basu, Papiya Adhikary, was staged last evening at the Naihati Municipality auditorium in North 24 Parganas under the auspices of Gyanesh Smrity Sansad.

Staging the drama Mr Topdar claimed that the drama, as modified by playwright Chandan Sen, proved its relevance to the prevailing political situation in the state, as the Rahumukta had relevance to the contemporary situation against US hegemony on the third world.

Papiya Adhikary, who cast as the queen Arundhati, as her mother Kalyani Adhikary had four decades back, echoed Mr Topder's views and said, ''I was really nostalgic while playing the role since I had witnessed my mother's playing the same role in my childhood.'' UNI