27 Facts About Shyamanand Jalan

Shyamanand Jalan was a Kolkata-based Indian theatre director, and actor.

Shyamanand Jalan is credited for the renaissance period of modern Indian theatre and especially the Hindi theatre in Kolkata from the 1960s to 1980s.

Shyamanand Jalan was the first to perform modernist Mohan Rakesh, starting with Ashadh Ka Ek Din in 1960 and in the coming years bridged the gap between Hindi theatre and Bengali theatre, by mounting Hindi productions of works by Bengali playwrights, like Badal Sircar's Evam Indrajit and Pagla Ghora, which in turn introduced Sircar to rest of the country.

Shyamanand Jalan acted in Mrinal Sen's television series, Tasveer Apni Apni, and later in Arohan by Shyam Benegal, Kahan Kahan Se Guzar Gaya by MS Sathyu, and Chokh by Utpalendu Chakrabarty.

Shyamanand Jalan co-founded theatre group Anamika in 1955, impresario organisation Anamika Kala Sangam in 1967, and later in 1972, he left Anamika to form his own Padatik theatre group, of which he remained director for the rest of his life; Padatik Dance Center was launched in 1989, a school for Classical and Contemporary Dance in Kolkata.

Shyamanand Jalan started his career as a lawyer and subsequently headed a legal firm in Kolkata, and at the same time worked both as a theatre actor and director.

Shyamanand Jalan started his acting career with play Naya Samaj in 1949, followed by Samasya directed by Tarun Roy in 1951.

Shyamanand Jalan directed his play Ek Thi Rajkumari, a children's play, written by Roy, in Hindi.

Shyamanand Jalan continued to act in most of his plays, sometimes playing the lead and even into his later years.

Shyamanand Jalan was the first theatre director to recognise the plays of Mohan Rakesh, when he staged his Ashadh Ka Ek Din in 1960, which had a competition organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1959, and was established as the first modern Hindi play.

Shyamanand Jalan subsequently staged Lehron Ke Rajhans in 1966 and Adhe Adhure, where he and his wife Chetna played the leads.

Shyamanand Jalan was equally adept in handling harsh realism of Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar's Sakharam Binder and Khamosh Adalat Jari Hai, Panchi Aise Aate Hain from his Ashi Pakhare Yeti in Marathi in 1971, Gidhade in 1973 and Kanyadan.

Shyamanand Jalan's other plays include Kauva Chala Hans ki Chal, Gyandev Agnihotri's Shuturmurg and a production of Romanian playwright Mihail Sebastian's Breaking News as Chhapte chhapte in 1963, in the arena format.

Shyamanand Jalan's production displayed his respect for the script as he didn't alter a word, and over the year he started a collaborative approach towards his productions with the playwright, a new trend in Indian theatre.

Shyamanand Jalan co-founded theatre group Anamika in 1955 with Pratibha Agrawal, a Hindi writer and a great granddaughter of Bhartendu Harishchandra, which played a pioneering role in the revival of Hindi theatre.

Shyamanand Jalan co-established the impresario institution Anamika Kala Sangam in 1967.

Shyamanand Jalan remained associated with Natya Shodh Sasthan Kolkata, an archive of Indian theatre for many years.

Shyamanand Jalan acted in Bengali productions, like Tughlaq, a Bengali version of Girish Karnad's play performed by Padatik under his own direction, for Pashchimbanga Natya Unnayan Samity, which featured stage actors, like Sombhu Mitra, Debabrata Dutta and Rudraprasad Sengupta.

Shyamanand Jalan is credited for not only reviving Hindi theatre in Kolkata, but by performing plays by Bengali playwrights like Badal Sircar's Paagla Ghoda and Evam Indrajit in Hindi, bridging the gap between North Indian and Bengali theatre.

Shyamanand Jalan translated plays by Henrik Ibsen like Janta ka Shatru in 1959, Brecht, Raja Lear from Shakespeare's King Lear, and Moliere's The Bourgeois Gentleman and The School for Wives.

Shyamanand Jalan adapted Rabindranath Tagore, Ghare Baire in 1961, and dramatised Mahashweta Devi's classic novel Hazar Churashir Ma as Hazar Chaurasi Ki Ma in 1978.

Shyamanand Jalan later worked as the vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from 1999 to 2004.

Shyamanand Jalan had been governing body member of the National Council of Science Museums.

Shyamanand Jalan directed Ramkatha Ram-Kahani, performed by dancers from Padatik Dance Centre, under Chetna Jalan.

The brochure of play reproduced two letters, one written by Shyamanand Jalan asking the playwright for clarifications and guidelines, and in the second the reply of Rakesh two months later, in fact after their discussions he rewrote third act.

Shyamanand Jalan died after a long illness at Kolkata on 24 May 2010, survived by his wife and six children.

On 20 January 2011 at Kamani Auditorium, Delhi, a retrospective-homage by Padatik, directed by Vinay Sharma, presented excerpts from five plays directed by Shyamanand Jalan, showcasing at least one representative work from each decade of the Padatik years, including Madhavi, Ramkatha Ram-Kahani, Adhey Adhurey and Sakharam Binder.