As Ranga Theatre launches its new play RAIN in association with IRFT we speak to Bijon Mondal, Artistic Director of the group about his journey in theatre in Mumbai. Bijon has trained in Indian ballet in the Little Ballet troupe founded by Shanti Bardhan. He trained under Gul Bardhan and Prabhat Ganguly, who were disciples of Uday Shankar. Bijon was with the troupe for several years performing in their various ballet productions which toured the world. His training in Indian ballet which incorporates various forms of dance has also been useful to him in designing and directing his own musical plays. RAIN opens at the St. Andrews auditorium on May 11 2013.
Deepa Punjani
Deepa Punjani (DP): Your group Ranga Theatre is among the well-known groups in Hindi theatre in Mumbai today. Tell us about the journey so far.
Bijon Mondal (BM): It has been very interesting. I started my work at Prithvi theatre doing different things like helping out with productions, the Prithvi theatre festival, its Summertime festival, with design and technicalities. I was the Technical Manager and at the same time I was working with different groups as a light designer, as choreographer, etc. Then I mounted my own production KARNA in 2007. Directing a play wasn't so easy at the beginning but later I started liking it. Today we have productions for adults as well as children and our plays have been getting a good response from the audience as well as from our theatre community. We have performed at various festivals in India and have travelled abroad too.
DP: Like scores of other hopefuls you too arrived in Mumbai seeking to make a career in theatre and in the film industry. Has there been a learning curve? Did you have any mentor/s?
BM: Few people know that I am a trained Indian ballet dancer. The Little Ballet Troupe I trained with had at one time luminaries like Ustaad Allauddin Khan Sahib, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Bhaskar Chandawarkar, Ronu Majumdar, Sushil Dasgupta and others. Around 40 dancers and an equal number of musicians used to perform live. This is the troupe which is responsible for giving our folk dances an international platform. Their ballet Ramayana which is recorded in the Guinness book of world record as the Ballet of the century, is the depiction of Ramayana through human puppets. I did some 15 ballets like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bairavi, Pashutantra, Meghdootam, Swarbimb, Ardhashati, etc and was with the troupe for 7 years. Also I received very good training in theatre in Bhopal. So when I moved to Mumbai I was kind of prepared. When I met Sanjana Kapoor at Prithvi theatre I got the opportunity to do good and interesting work. Sanjana has been a mentor to me, almost like a godmother. She gave me the space to explore the kind of work I wanted to do. Her faith in me was immense and I learned a lot from her. We used to stay up till very late for the Prithvi festival preparations but she was always full of energy and enthusiasm. I also learnt a lot from Pt Satyadev Dubey. He was in every sense a true Guru and always encouraged me. He told me about the kind of plays I should do and also recommended my production of ANDHA YUG for the Vinod Doshi festival. I was lucky to spend time with both Sanjana and Dubey ji.
DP: You have been collaborating with the music band Translucent for your productions. What is it about their music that works for your plays?
BM: Since my training is in musicals, music is an integral part of all our productions. I first started working with Translucent for our production LIFE OF PI in 2009. In Indian plays we generally use the Indian musical instruments like the dholak, tabla, harmonium. I wanted to give a different sound to my play. Their music worked for my play and after having worked with them for a while now, they have got to understand my theatre and the high energy that I need for my productions. My biggest challenge with them was while doing ANDHA YUG since it's a classic in Hindi. I had to connect them to the language and the story. They eventually pulled it off. We used to jam till 3 or 4 am in the morning. Finally we had 18 songs with a heavy background score.
DP: What's the best and the worst thing about leading a theatre group?
BM: The best part is that you can explore your work with different kinds of people and there's a healthy sharing of experiences, craft and knowledge. The worst part is that you have to do a lot of admin and managerial work, which is killing.
Deepa Punjani (DP): Your group Ranga Theatre is among the well-known groups in Hindi theatre in Mumbai today. Tell us about the journey so far.
List Your Play