Mukto Theatre, Muktir Theatre directed by Arijit Mitra, Subhadipta Biswas

What did Arijit Mitra, Subhadipta Biswas say about his film?

During the early seventies of last century, eminent theatre practitioner Badal Sircar and his troupe, stepped down from the Proscenium arena of Kolkata in search of an alternate form of theatre that is more outreaching. Soon their portable, flexible and inexpensive mode attained the stature of a Theatre Movement in India. Ordinary people, activists and artists could vent their thoughts and connect to the marginal segments of the society without any compulsion of sponsorship. However, challenges were taller amidst the turmoil brought by new economic policies, unemployment, communal tensions and personal greed in a power- centric society? To witness the theatre's struggle for existence in a changing culture, the camera has travelled along with the theatre-practitioners, in buses, trains and on foot. Nourished by personal experiences, archive footages, live performances and spontaneous reactions of the audiences, the documentary ‘Mukto Theatre, Muktir Theatre’ has tried to treasure an important cultural history of the sub-continent.

Free-thinking in current scenario is turning out not only impossible but also a matter of fear... systems are demanding conformism, unquestioned adherence. Film festivals are the sole venue for independent voice of a Documentary maker in India. The previously Governmental funding bodies have withdrawn completely from this space. Political unruliness has imposed undue difficulties for makers to do extensive fieldwork. So, somewhere our journeys matched, and we felt the urgency to put forward an artform that has been resilient enough to stand against all odds.

We were a two-member crew unit (Arijit and Subhadipta), both pass-outs from Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute… hence competent enough to work out in challenging Live atmospheres, yet capable of delivering above average quality of image and sound. Udit helped us with the background score during the post. Nevertheless, our eight long years journey with the film will be fruitful only if it reaches and touches more and more audience with equal passion.