India`s multilingual aspects find a poetic articulation amidst Indian theatre. Diverse culture, varied religion and most importantly the multifariousnesses of Indian language has played a great role in shaping up India`s rich heritage and culture. The fusion of different Indian language and the union of varied Indian traditions from different region has enriched India`s ethnicity in quite a large way since the remote past. India, as a multilingual and multi religious state can not be allied with one particular kind of trend and aspect in its theatres and dramas. This is the reason why the deep fervor of Bengali theatre has gelled well with the passion of Hindi Manipuri, Kannada and Marathi theatre and has given birth to a whole new concept of "Indian theatre". It is right after the independence of India, Indian theatre in different Indian languages and regions developed as an important element in taking theatre to the further level of maturity.

Malayalam Theatre, Gujarati Theatre, Kannada Theatre all has its roots associated with the British rule as the seed of the contemporary drama in India was sown during that era. Bengali theatre started with an intention of private entertainment however gradually it became the weapon to illustrate the dislikes and frustration of the British imperialism in India. As an art form Bengali theatre has its roots associated with the British Raj. Although started as private entertainment in the early 19th century Bengali theatre gradually became not only an eminent art form but also started playing the major role in illustrating the discomforts of the British Raj in India. The year was 1947 and the day was 15th August.

The day is indeed a red letter day in the Indian history . It is the Independence Day. Not only India stood apart as a socially and politically sovereign state but also Indian culture, art, music, literature all witnessed a colossal change. Drama and theatre in India in different Indian languages and regions gradually became an art form to illustrate the social and political ailments of independent India. Right after the independence in India the leftist movement in West Bengal, used Bengali theatre as a typical means of advertisement or propaganda. Quite ideally therefore a new trend in Multi lingual & regional theatre gradually developed and the emergence of the group theatres is one of them. All these theatre groups carried somewhat an ideologic at the same time as distinct cultural inspiration to differentiate themselves from the typical artistry of the ancient Indian theatre.

Multi lingual & regional theatre in India can actually be classified into two distinct streams like the urban theatres and the rural theatres. This was even particularly common in the classical art form of the Marathi theatre and Hindi theatre. With the thriving development of the various Indian metropolis Marathi, Kannad and Hindi theatre developed in accord to the Bengali theatre. With the direct influence of the "Yakshagana" the ethnic dance drama of Karnataka which offered a distinct shape to the artistry of Marathi and Kannad drama in the late 19th century. This was the time when Indian drama witnessed the emergence of subtle contrivances and ploys, in illustrating a particular kind of idea. Multi lingual & regional theatre in India thus for the first time saw the materialization of allegorical fantasies in farcical comedies. Some more regional languages in which theatre later developed as an important element took this art form to further level of maturity. Sindhi Theatre,which further popularized the folk art again reshaped the contour of regional theatre in India. With the establishment of the Hyderabad Amateur Dramatic Society in 1912, the change in theme of Sindhi drama became evident. The society`s mainstay, Nanikram Mirchandani, introduced social realism in Sindhi theatre to aid it in befitting the modish aspect of the society. Konkani theatre, Kashmiri Theatre and also the Maithili Theatre witnessed a marked change. Maithili theatre spread to Assam and Nepal, producing a huge corpus of Maithili drama. Siddhi Narasinghadeva and Bhupatindra Malla were among the known playwrights in Nepal. At the end of the nineteenth century Parsi theatre and Ramlila reached Mithila, leading to the premature burial of Kirtaniya. Oriya Theatre blended a deep philosophical meaning with that with the religious fervor to make regional theatre in India to stand out with pride. Assamese Theatre, Dogri Theatre, Manipuri Theatre needs mention in shaping the structure of regional theatre in India. It is with the colors of Rajasthani Theatre, the verve of regional theatre in India gained a dimension. Rajasthani theatre as a popular theatre form was formed in the late nineteenth century. Nepali Theatre, Tamil Theatre, Telugu Theatre, and Urdu Theatre all aided in shaping the Indian regional theatre to a great extent

The journey of the Multi lingual & regional theatre in India thus unfolds the rich history of British Raj and the independence of India. It is the saga of a changing trend; the account of an altering pattern which made Indian theatre lot more contemporary with its entire sophistication and modishness.

Your - Parth Roy

The earliest extant one-act plays in India date back to Bhasa. He was the first known Indian dramatist, whose famous works include Madhyamavyayoga or `Vyayoga of the Middle One`, ending in gentle humour, and the remarkable Urubhanga or `Breaking of the Thigh` and Karnabhara or `Kama`s Burden`, both terminating in suffering and death, defying theoretical conventions. The Sanskrit theatre recognized several specific one-act forms like the vyayoga, bhana, vithi, and utsrishtikamka, but the regional traditions of religious or folk performances made no such distinction. Sporadic evidence exists of short compositions, generally comical, staged as a prelude to the main drama in the nineteenth century, but they remained a part of larger extravaganzas to please the audience.

Bharatendu Harishchandra`s Hindi satire Vaidiki himsa bimsa na bhavati or `Vedic Violence Is Not Violence` in 1873 was one of the earliest short plays to anticipate modern one-act drama. This powerful attack on ritualistic animal sacrifice inspired some of his followers to experiment with the genre but it did not emerge as a significant medium of expression till the third decade of the twentieth century. P. Sambandha Mudaliar is credited with writing the first Tamil one-act in 1906, constructed according to the Sanskrit model but criticizing the British judiciary, with special reference to the role of interpreters. After Rabindranath Tagore`s farcical skits during 1885-94 and brief verse dramas collected as Kahini or `Stories` in 1900, Manmatha Ray`s Muktirdak or `Call of Freedom` in 1923 was one of the first serious Bengali one-act plays, based on a Buddhist legend of love, passion, piety, and contentment, built through a quick succession of situations leading to an impressive denouement.

Around this time several writers, particularly in Gujarati and Marathi, began to show keen interest in the form. Parsi theatre had nursed it with care for long as an effective means of entertainment. But it`s finer possibilities were exploited by Batubhai Umarwadia during 1899-1950, who`s Matsyagandba in 1925 was a milestone in Gujarati theatre history. By the 1940s, one-act drama became very popular in Gujarati, largely due to the efforts of gifted authors like Yashwant Pandya during 1906-55 and Pranjeevan Pathak during 1898-1975. The ferment caused by them was sustained by Umashankar Joshi, Jayanti Dalal, and particularly C. C. Mehta and Shiv Kumar Joshi, among the most prolific composers of one-act plays. Like the short story, the genre developed quickly in all the languages, though it remained more or less marginalized on stage, because the theatres required a lengthy minimum time frame to attract customers. Thus, despite a paradoxical abundance in print, most mid-century examples are forgotten today. Indian writers did not fail to cope with the challenges of brevity and compactness, economy of expression, and fast movement that the one-act play demanded. Manmatha Ray, Ram Kumar Varma, usually hailed, as the father of Hindi one-act drama, Pudumaippittan in Tamil, and Anant Kanekar was the distinguished Marathi author.

Its quick proliferation after Independence was pardy prompted by the needs of literary magazines and partly by requests from amateur groups for short scripts, often preferably without female dramatis personae. The challenge frequently tempted the best playwrights to experiment with it, despite the absence of theatrical patronage. The Marathi dramatists M. G. Rangnekar and P. L. Deshpande produced their one-act plays on stage bunched in double or triple bills. This practice has been followed in other languages too, with limited success. Badal Sircar and Utpal Dutt in Bengali and Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi gave this still-minor genre some respectability.

Indian theatre has a history going back about 5000 years or more। Infact, the very first book on drama, called the Natya Shahtra, was penned in India only, by Bharat Muni. As per the historians, the time when this book was written is estimated to fall between 2000 BC and 4th Century AD. Traditional Indian theater initiated as a narrative form with the elements like reciting, singing and dancing playing a crucial role in it. In the present times, there are many forms of theatre prevalent in India. The main ones are:

Folk Theatre
Since India consists of varied ethnic groups, each developed their own kind of traditional folk theatres, using the regional language for communication. These theaters are known by different names in different Indian states, like Jatra in Bengal, Orissa and Bihar, Tamasha in Maharashtra, Nautanki in Uttar Pradesh and so on. Here, the main protagonists are the narrator and a comedian. Loud music, dance, elaborate make-up, masks and chorus singing are the main traits of Indian folk theatre.

Ramlila / Ram Leela
Ramlila is an important form of folk theatre in India, based on the mythological story of a battle between Lord Rama and Demon Ravana. Its staging takes place at a number of places throughout India, once a year, and usually lasts for 10-12 days. The dialogues of this play are very outstanding and thus, it draws spectators in hordes. The staging of this style of theater evokes a festive ambience. Places like Ramnagar, Kumaoni, Varanasi and Chitrakoot are famous for their Ram Leela.

Puppetry
Puppetry, as a form of theatre in India, is very ancient and apart from entertainment, it also conveys useful messages to the spectators. The early puppet shows staged in India were mostly based on stories of famous Indian kings and heroes and at times, also a satire on the social and political milieu. Puppetry started taking in religious themes as well, after the introduction of shadow puppetry that were based on stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Other popular puppetry forms here are glove, rod, string, string-rod puppets.

Modern Theatre
The modern theatre in India comprises mainly of English, Hindi and Hinglish (comprising of a mix of Hindi and English dialogues) plays. English theatre was brought to India during the British rule and was watched mostly by art connoisseurs of the rich, upper class. This, however, changed after independence, as many Indians entered the fray and theatre slowly became open for common people too. Today, many English plays based on Shakespeare and other famous foreign authors are being staged. Hindi and Hinglish plays are quite popular too.

भारतीय रंग मंच

भारतीय थिएटर के प्रादुर्भाव का इतिहास पौराणिक कथा काल में हुआ जब भ्रष्‍टाचार और शक्ति के चंगुल से मानवता को मुक्‍त करने की आवश्‍यकता से ब्रहमा ने नाट्य शास्‍त्र या नाटक कला का सृजन किया और इसके अर्थभेद से विवेकपूर्ण भारत को आलोकित किया, जिसने बाद में कला रूप को अपने शिष्‍यों को सिखाया जिसे उसने पूरी दुनिया में फैलाया। इस प्रकार से अभिनय कला का एक सबसे पुरान रूप अस्तित्‍व में आया, जो असंख्‍य चरणों के जरिए दर्शकों के मन को आहलादित करने के लिए प्रबल रहा, जिन्‍होंने किसी नाटकीय अभिनय देखा है।

भारतीय थिएटर भारत की संस्‍कृतियों और परम्‍पराओं के बारे में बहुत कुछ बयान करता है, इसके त्‍यौहारों के रंग, और जन समूह का कोलाहल। भारत में थिएटर अभिनय व्‍याख्‍यात्‍मक शैली में शुरू हुआ जिसमें बहुत अधिक वर्णन गाने और नृत्‍य शामिल थे। इन सभी कला रूपों के संकलन के कारण ही थिएटर अभिनय और सृजनात्‍मक कला के सभी अन्‍य रूपों में अव्‍वल रहा। भारतीय थिएटर चूंकि ब्रहमा ने अपने आप दुनिया में सम्‍पन्‍न किया है, यह आरंभिक दिनों के दौरान देवताओं को समर्पित और सम्‍मानित करने की सतत यात्रा रहा है। बाद में नाटकीय के जटिल रूपों का विकास हुआ जो समकालीन थिएटर कहलाता है।

भारतीय थिएटर को मोटे तौर पर तीन विकास अवस्‍थाओं में विभाजित किया जा सकता है - प्राचीन काल, परम्‍परागत काल और आधुनिक काल ये अवस्‍था ने घटनाएं और घटनाक्रम निर्धारित किए हैं, जिन्‍होंने भारतीय थिएटर को संवारा है, जो आज प्रचलित है।

प्राचीन काल

इस काल में नाटक का संकेन्‍द्रण नाटक लिखने के कार्य के इर्द-गिर्द और रंगमंच अभिनय या नाटक प्रस्‍तुत करने की कला के इर्द-गिर्द था। इसी अवधि के दौरान भारतीय थिएटर में कालिदास, पतंजलि, भास और शूद्रक जैसे नाटककारों द्वारा श्रेष्‍ठ कृतियों का सृजन हुआ, जिन्‍होंने संस्‍कृत नाटक को गौरवान्वित करने में बहुत अधिक योगदान दिया। नाटककार अपनी योजना तैयार किए, अधिकाशंत: उन कहानियों पर आधारित थे, जिन्‍हें उन्‍होंने महाकाव्‍य लोक गीत, इतिहास, पौराणिक गाथा आदि से लिया था। इससे दर्शकों के लिए नाटक को समझना आसान हो गया जिन्‍होंने उन क‍हानियों का सृजनात्‍मक प्रस्‍तुतीकरण देखने के लिए भाग लिया जिनसे वे पहले से ही परिचित थे। अभिनेताओं को कला रूप में बड़े कौशल होने की आवश्‍यकता थी ताकि ऐसे नाटकों से दर्शकों को आह्लादित कर सकें।

आधुनिक अवधि

आधुनिक अवधि में ब्रिटिश राज के दौरान भारतीय नाट्य कला के साथ पश्चिमी नाट्य कला के साथ मेल-जोल दिखाई पड़ा और एक ऐसी नाट्य कला का विकास आरंभ हुआ जिसका आधार जीवन के वास्‍तविक या प्राकृतिक तत्‍व थे। आधुनिक नाट्य कला ने व्‍यावहारिक मुद्दों पर अधिक ध्‍यान देकर जीवन के अधिक प्राकृतिक तत्‍वों का चित्रण आरंभ किया।

भारत में नाट्य कला तीन अवधियों में विभिन्‍न चित्रण और विकास हुआ और क्रमश: वर्तमान समय के समकालीन नाटक का मार्ग प्रशस्‍त हुआ। विभिन्‍न राष्‍ट्रीय संस्‍थाओं और अकादमियों ने आगे आकर भारत में नाटक को प्रोत्‍साहन दिया, जो अब विश्‍व विख्‍यात कलाकारों को आगे लाई, जिन्‍हें अंतरराष्‍ट्रीय परिदृश्‍य में अनेक पुरस्‍कार और सम्‍मान मिले हैं।

आप का पार्थ

अमिताभ बच्चन इन Pune

आज मैं वृंदा नगर गया ..जी हाँ पुणे मैं हैं....वहां पर मराठी साहित्य सम्मेलन हो रहा था....आज के अतिथी थे श्री अमिताभ बच्चन ..जी हाँ वोह पुणे मैं ए..उनको देखने के लिए काफी भीड़ थी। मैं भी गया था ताकि उनके दर्शन हो जाये , उनको ने पुणे के बारे मैं काफी कुछ अच कहा के उनका पुणे से और मराठी भाषा से कितना लगाब है .उन्होंने उनके पिताः की कविताओ का पाठ किया .

पूल पर "पोलिटिक्स "

नमस्कार....आप सब को मेरा रंग नमन .उम्मीद है के आप सभी अछे होंगे !!! आज मैं आप से एक बात बोलना चाहता हूँ । कुछ दिनों पहले अमिताभ बच्चन ने मुंबई मैं एक पूल का उद्घाटन किया, यह काफी अची बात है के के मुंबई को एक और पूल का गौरब मिला । एस कायक्रम काफी लोग शामिल हुए , पर शायद कुछ लोगो को यह सही नहीं लगा के अमिताभ बच्चन वहां पर हैं। मैं किसी के बारे मैं नहीं कहना चाहता क्यूँ की मैं एक कलाकार हूँ और अमिताभ बच्चन एक नामी कलाकार है , क्या यह ज्यादा जरुरी है के पूल का उद्घाटन सही तरीके से हो या के अमिताभ बच्चन वहां क्यूँ आयें ? भाई भारत मैं सभी को रहने का कहें भे जाने का बराबर का अधिकार है ऐसे मैं अमिताभ बच्चन के जाने से ऐसा कोंन सा जुर्म हो गया ?? इस तरह के बातें न तो वहां के सरकार को शोभा देता है और न ही मीडिया को। किसे एक आदमी पर कई तरह के आरोप फिर उनसे माफ़ी ...येः सब क्या ठीक है ? आज के मीडिया एस तरह के बातों को २४ घंटे अपने चंनल मैं लाइव दिखा रहे हैं ताकि ज्यादा से ज्यादा बिज़नस और विज्ञापन मिल सके .देश के पैसो से मेरा मतलब है के "जनता " के पैसो से जिस पूल का निर्माण होता है..उसका उद्घाटन किसी "आम आदमी " को ही करना चाहेए , काम करते हैं गरीब मजदूर और "शिलान्यंस " करते है देश के नेता और अभिनेता ।

चलना हमारा काम है

गति प्रबल पैरों में भरी
फिर क्यों रहूं दर दर खडा
जब आज मेरे सामने
है रास्ता इतना पडा
जब तक न मंजिल पा सकूँ,
तब तक मुझे न विराम है,
चलना हमारा काम है ।

कुछ कह लिया, कुछ सुन लिया
कुछ बोझ अपना बँट गया
अच्छा हुआ, तुम मिल गई
कुछ रास्ता ही कट गया
क्या राह में परिचय कहूँ,
राही हमारा नाम है,
चलना हमारा काम है ।

जीवन अपूर्ण लिए हुए
पाता कभी खोता कभी
आशा निराशा से घिरा,
हँसता कभी रोता कभी
गति-मति न हो अवरूद्ध,
इसका ध्यान आठो याम है,
चलना हमारा काम है ।

इस विशद विश्व-प्रहार में
किसको नहीं बहना पडा
सुख-दुख हमारी ही तरह,
किसको नहीं सहना पडा
फिर व्यर्थ क्यों कहता फिरूँ,
मुझ पर विधाता वाम है,
चलना हमारा काम है ।

मैं पूर्णता की खोज में
दर-दर भटकता ही रहा
प्रत्येक पग पर कुछ न कुछ
रोडा अटकता ही रहा
निराशा क्यों मुझे?
जीवन इसी का नाम है,
चलना हमारा काम है ।

साथ में चलते रहे
कुछ बीच ही से फिर गए
गति न जीवन की रूकी
जो गिर गए सो गिर गए
रहे हर दम,
उसी की सफलता अभिराम है,
चलना हमारा काम है ।

फकत यह जानता
जो मिट गया वह जी गया
मूंदकर पलकें सहज
दो घूँट हँसकर पी गया
सुधा-मिक्ष्रित गरल,
वह साकिया का जाम है,
चलना हमारा काम है ।