How a social media post shows all is not right in Kolkata theatre scene

Eventually, Mukhomukhi, the theatre group that staged the play, put out a statement on behalf of all the cast and crew members of the production Tiner Tolowar. The statement read, “Sudipto Chatterjee is no longer part of the production. He has been asked to quit after the first show. It was our wrong decision to include him in the play. We immediately rectified our mistake and removed him from the cast.”

In an open letter published in a Bengali daily, Suman Mukhopadhyay addressed the issue and said that if he has hurt the sentiments of people, he is regretful. “By casting Sudipto, if I have hurt the sentiments of people, I am deeply regretful…People who are protesting have not acknowledged the fact that Sudipto is no longer a part of the play. They are saying I have quietly removed him from the play, I don’t understand why that is wrong. Do they want me to call Sudipto before a performance and announce that he has been dropped from the play?” Suman stated in the open letter. Suman Mukhopadhyay also declared that he is finding it “difficult to work in the Kolkata theatre scene”.”I have staged more than 25 plays, made ten films, and I have never faced such a situation. Even after all this, if I end up endangering people from the industry, it is indeed very sad. I have no right to work in the theatre anymore,” he wrote.

Amitabh Ghosh, an actor of the Mukhomukhi group, confirmed to The Indian Express that Sudipto is no longer a part of the play. “It was rectified immediately. He is no longer with the play. I, at least, don’t have any personal equation with him.”

Daminee Benny Basu, however, claims that this is not an isolated incident. “It’s not just about Sudipto Chattopadhyay and Suman Mukhopadhyay, there is a toxic culture here that needs to be addressed. Suman Mukhopadhyay is a brilliant director, he has taught many actors a lot of things, which is why it’s even more important to question him. We except better from him, especially when he was one of the first people to call Sudipto out in 2019, when women came out with their accounts. These cases are still under trial, so how has he changed his stance? How do you think the women involved feel about this?” Daminee asks.

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Titas Samuho, who is a part of Samuho, a queer and female-centric theatre group from Kolkata, feels that this incident is like “opening a can of worms”. “We have been talking about this since 2019, when MeToo movement happened. There are many enablers in the Kolkata theatre scene who are going out of their way to rehabilitate these men. There is an accused like Raja Bhattacharya, who was arrested under the POSCO act. But he is out on interim bail and has renowned personalities like Debshankar Haldar, who is a part of West Bengal Natya Akademi, acting in his plays,” says Titas.

Raja Bhattacharya, who runs a city based theatre group called Blank Verse, was arrested in 2023 under the POSCO act, when a 20-year-old accused him of sexual abuse since she joined his group as a 12-year-old. Bhattacharya is out on interim bail and has staged plays in the city after getting bail.

When The Indian Express contacted Debshankar Haldar, who is also a part of Suman Mukhopadhyay’s Tiner Talwar, he said he has nothing to say about this. “Yes, I have heard about this. All I can say is that I have acted in Raja Bhattacharya’s play and that all there is to it,” he says.

Titas says that survivors will feel disheartened by such a response. “They are people in positions of power, they should side with the vulnerable ones, not men who have been accused of abusing power,” she says. Daminee agrees, “Women, children and even men surrender their bodies to their art in the field of acting. Here trust is of utmost importance. When that is abused, it breaks us. We have to ensure that an impartial body is in place to monitor such things. Like POSH committees in workplaces,” she sums up.