When Annapurna Was Odisha’s Answer To New York’s Broadway

Odisha had its own parallel of Broadway way back in 1930s. Known as Annapurna Theatre it was Eton of Odia culture and entertainment. It used to stage at least five or six  performances in a year.

The momentum picked up in 1933. Puri, and later Cuttack became the epicentre of this opera party turned theatre style entertainment. In the same year, Somnath Das formed Jayadurga Natya Mandali, an opera party in Khandualkote village in the then Puri district. In 1935, the opera party was revamped as a theatre. The tribe of artists grew rapidly and in 1936, a full-fledged Annapurna Theatre kicked off as a touring troupe.

There were stand alone, smaller theatre troupes like the Banamali Art Theatre but when a more institutionalised theatre group like Annapurna took shape, the artists came flocking. Encouragement and state support for art and artistes was almost non-existent at that time, barring the ones patronised by the royals. That too was limited in Odisha.

In 1936, Odisha created its identity as a political state and that was when cultural renaissance also gained currency. This was also a watershed period in the geographical and political formations of the state due to the initiative taken by a few people.

This was the time when Utkal Sammilani spearheaded the (then) Orissa formation agenda. On February 11, 1934, it was resolved in the Berhampur annual conference of Utkal Sammilani that if Jeypore and Paralakhemundi were not included with the proposed Orissa Province, the Oriyas would not accept that Orissa Province.” The Orissa delegation, headed by Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati reached London to negotiate with the British government. The group of leading Oriya personalities included the Rajasaheb of Khallikote, Lingaraj Panigrahi, Bhubanananda Das and Shyam Sundar Das. Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati gave a memorandum to the Secretary of State of the joint select committee for the merger of Paralakhemundi in the proposed Orissa province.

With the persuasion of the delegation, a report was published on behalf of the joint select committee which was accepted by the British Parliament. On April 1, 1936, Orissa became a separate province.

With a tumultuous political scenario, the culture brigade provided an outlet for creativity in Odisha which had no platform till then in a professional and commercial set up. But success was yet to come till 1939 when Kartik Kumar Ghose ran a play (an adaptation from a Bengali story and play) which was produced by Annapurna Theatre. It was successful in the box office and its success ensured more support for theatre in a state not known for magnanimous support to theatre, art or music. Gradually, the number of artistes increased and then it was decided to divide the theatre company into two branches and run from two places, Puri and Cuttack. They were run from permanent stages, unheard of then. The Annapurna A-group was in Puri and was managed by Bauri Bandhu Mohanty. The Annapurna B-group was in Cuttack. Ramchandra Mishra’s social play, ‘Manager’, was
perhaps the first big success in 1945 at Cuttack.

Over a period of time, the two groups A & B split and almost became competitors. But Cuttack, due to its prominence had a much better audience than Puri. Annapurna at Cuttack had its own permanent stage at Tinkonia Bagicha. But the revenue model for Puri was slightly different as they banked on touring. The viewership in Puri was less and not viable to run a permanent setup. There was also a splinter group, Annapurna-C which existed for a short period.

To sustain, art needs professional management and a strong revenue plan. Both were lacking and both groups A & B were fast becoming losing propositions. Financially, theatres were languishing till they virtually closed in 1970, when they were struggling to run five or six plays annually. It was painful because Annapurna Theatre was the only organised theatre in the state and it helped create a strong tradition in drama and produced brilliant performers, playwrights and other stage personalities. They enjoyed a special privilege in cinema later, due to their grounding and experience in theatre. They were considered masters of their art.

Even today, theatre is considered the training ground for acting. Dramatists like Ramchandra Mishra, Bhanja Kishore Patnaik, Kamal Lochan Mohanty and Bijay Mishra were products of Annapurna. But many untiring enthusiasts tried to keep Annapurna B running and breathe life into the cradle of Odia theatre. However, the final curtains on Annapurna Theatres came in mid 1980s when it was totally abandoned.

Sadly, the mascot of Cuttack city, the state theatre has collapsed and the infrastructure razed to the ground. We go on creating new platforms without taking care of the existing ones. The Annapurna theatres could never move with the times. The younger generations were never interested and nor did they know much about the theatres in Odisha. Recently it has been encouraging to see trained youngsters doing excellent theatre work in Odisha. In October 2006, a group had staged a marathon of plays stretching over eight-and-a-half hours. The event included six plays, each of 80 to 90 minutes’ duration played with the intention of reviving interest in theatre.

This was the result of an emotional outburst of stage aficionados when they saw the collapse of the massive gates of Annapurna Theatre’s arched gate in February 2006 but how long can anyone keep squatters away?

Stage needs regular patronage both by the government and the people. Prominent theatre personality, Anant Mahapatra set up the Utkal Rangmanch Trust (URT) in 1997 with the pioneering and innovative idea of popularizing and encouraging professional theatre in Odisha and staged plays on a weekly basis. In 2005, its ‘Women Directors Special Festival’ presented plays from SAARC countries.

URT is working on an ambitious plan to organize plays in different cities in India. Kolkata is not the best place for theatre workers, Anant Mahapatra, has also founded the theatre group Srujani.  Odisha theatre then was greatly influenced by the Kolkata theatre. So was the film industry and the music. But it is important to mention here that Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), formed in 1942 had major inroads into the stage and music style in Odisha. Some of the members of the group like, Bijon Bhattacharya, Balraj Sahni, Ritwik Ghatak, Utpal Dutt, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Salil Chowdhury, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Jyotirindra Moitra, Niranjan Singh Maan, S. Tera Singh Chan, Jagdish Faryadi, Khalili Faryadi, Rajendra Raghuvanshi Safdar Mir, Hasan Premani etc were connected in one way or the other with Odisha.

One of the significant dramas was Nabanna (Harvest). This Bengali drama, written by Bijon Bhattacharya and directed by Sombhu Mitra, portrayed the evils of the Bengal famine of 1943 and the indifference of the British rulers and the ruling class of India towards the plight of the millions of famine-stricken poor. The adaptation was a runaway hit.

Annapurna has been the breeding ground or the nursery for actors. Noted cine and stage artiste of yesteryear, Bhanumati Devi who passed away recently was born in Myanmar. She came to Puri and started acting on stage as part of Annapurna, before joining Odia cinema in 1954. She was an integral part of Annapurna Theatre, Cuttack for about four decades. She acted in Mrinal Sen’s National Award winning Odia film ‘Matira Manisha’.

Despite producing acting legends and entertainment doyens, Annapurna has frittered away due to gross apathy towards the state’s theatre legacy. The Annapurna A in Puri and the Annapurna B in Cuttack have been struggling for survival. And after Phailin, the weak structures of the theatres have been reduced to ruins. The Annapurna in Puri was set up with the help of the then King of Keonjhar on a land that belongs to the Jagannath Temple of Puri, which was a part of Uttarparswa Matha. Over the years, the troupe faced demise. Puri used to stage at least one play a month with the help of the local amateur troupes. But after Phailin, most of the structure had collapsed. Due to a litigation over land in a case between the matha and the Jagannath Temple administration in the Orissa High Court, nothing can be done to repair and renovate the building.

In spite of its uniqueness and quality, the theatre movement with Annapurna couldn’t attract young talent to keep it going. Annapurna at Cuttack, formed in 1942-43 by Lingaraj Nanda was very popular in Odisha but couldn’t survive. The infrastructure is dilapidated and the leaseholders of the land have converted the land usage to more commercially viable business projects. Since the theatre complex has ownership in the name of a private person, the government is making efforts for an amicable settlement with the owner for renovation of the theatre. This apart, adequate steps are planned to be taken to rehabilitate the old and retired artists living in the complex, If the government doesn’t take focussed steps to revive the drama and play culture in Odisha, then who would and who can?

The Odisha government has committed to revive the two units of Annapurna Theatre established at Puri and Cuttack at an estimated cost of over Rs.10 crores.  Not many business houses took the initiative to take art and culture as their corporate social responsibility in Odisha. We need to encourage contributions to art and culture. That needs to be developed as a culture and norm in the state.

From actors such as Bhanumati Devi, Durlabh Chandra Singh, Nityanada Das to Byomakesh Tripathy, Dukhiram Swain to the founder gurus of Odissi, Pankaj Charan Das, Debaprasad Das and Kelucharan Mohapatra — Annapurna has been the foundation school of the legendary artistes of the state.

Annapurna gave us pristine Odia performances (the acting, the diction, the storytelling, the powerful portrait of social issues) from icons and actors like Samuel Sahu (Babi), Hemant Das and many more.