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Journalism of Courage
Book: Balraj and Bhisham Sahni: Brothers in Political Theatre
Kalpana Sahni amp; P.C. Joshi
Sahmat
Pages: 100
Price: Rs 120
Whether it is for his playful flirtation with his wife just before an earthquake strikes in the film Waqt,or his heart-rendering performance in Kabuliwala,Do Bigha Zameen or Garam Hawa,Balraj Sahni was in many ways,truly of another era in Indian cinema. His younger comrade-in-arms,playwright brother Bhisham Sahni,who was active for much longer,is someone to whom younger TV audiences can relate to because of the memorable Tamas. But he wrote other plays too,such as Rang De Basanti Chola,Alamgir and Kabira Khada Bazar Mein.
Both Balraj and Bhisham,with their plays with the Indian Peoples Theatre Association IPTA and independently,soaked in that culture. They had a canvas that went beyond just acting or writing. Both the brothers,associated with the Indian left,felt it was important to constantly fight,to make a case for change in what they saw around them.
This book refers to the time when Mumbai was Bombay and the film world was not Bollywood. Balraj and Bhisham Sahni: Brothers in Political Theatre comprises essentially two long essays by Bhisham Sahnis daughter and scholar Kalpana Sahni and the late P.C. Joshi,the brilliant,outspoken and controversial former general secretary of the Communist Party of India. And they both write from very different vantage points. Kalpanas narrative is as a daughter/niece,comrade,writing with today as the foreground. She sweeps down memory lane,picking up nuggets of her experiences as a child and then putting them in a larger perspective of where the two fitted in Bombays cultural scene. Theirs was an endeavour to capture a newly emerging India,the euphoria and the hope,coupled with disappointments with the way things were turning out,which Balraj and Bisham used to fuel their creativity. Kalpana tackles a difficult turning point,when IPTA and the Communist Party,which was the bedrock of the brothers ideas and ideology,ceased to inspire them,particularly Balraj. Their subsequent alienation from both,their former party and the creative arts,is also well brought out.
Joshi,with the candour,insight and sweep only someone of his gigantic stature could summon,takes the discussion to an even broader canvas. He knew Balraj as a very close buddy so the write-up was also meant as a cathartic exercise to handle the grief that accompanied Balrajs untimely death. Joshi,by discussing issues he personally encountered as the general secretary of the CPI and his replacement with a successor who implemented leftist ideas very narrowly,is very enlightening. He talks of what sustained IPTA and conversely,how when the party came to dominate and coerce the micro-level functioning of cultural organisations,the best,including the Sahnis,left or were driven away. Joshi handles very complex subjects that haunt the creative arts even now.
He discusses how Balraj,especially,strove to make his art something more than about singing and dancing. He searched for a medium in which he could locate a larger purpose for his creativity,which could only be provided,believes Joshi,by being part of a collective organisation,one that combines discipline with large doses of autonomy and a reflex that welcomes new ideas.
Sahmat has done well to bring out this edition,readable in one sitting. What works very well are the rare photographs which are aplenty.
