HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, Dec 30: The prestigious family of the Baan Theatre here, at the advent of the new year urged the Assam government to recognise it as a ‘National Platform’ of theatre for the state as well as the district administration to expedite the ongoing renovation and modernisation work of the Baan Theatre in its annual session held recently.
“The meeting held today urged upon the concerned authority of the government to give recognition to Baan Theatre as a ‘National Platform’ of theatre for the state of Assam,” Jitumoni Deva Choudhury, general secretary of Baan Theatre said in the session.
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“We are optimistic enough that Baan Theatre, the cradle of Assamese culture, will continue to be the epicentre of intellectual and creative development in the days to come,” he reiterated, delving deep into its existence and contribution towards the overall development of the Assamese culture.
He also mentioned that the theatre has been taking key steps to develop plays for children, paving way for nurturing talents from childhood into great artists and dramatists who reciprocated to transform Baan Theatre into a glorious chapter.
“As an unmatched cultural platform, Baan Theatre has been a symbol of nationalism ever standing as a pillar of dignity of Tezpur since its commencement,” Jitumoni said adding that the socio-cultural environment of past decades in Tezpur helped in the establishment of Baan Theatre.
Many dedicated families in Tezpur helped financially to enhance its movement.
He also pointed out that every play staged in Baan Theatre was a celebrated festival for the people of Tezpur.
With an illustrious history the cultural platform has been contributing towards strengthening the Assamese people, developing their socio-cultural life and serving as the unifying factor since the ages thereby enormously standing as a landmark nerve centre for performing arts.
It has provided a creative platform to both artists and writers to upgrade their lives.
The theatre’s history iterates that since its establishment dating back in 1906 Baan Theatre has persistently produced the most talented persons like ‘Rupkowar’ Jyotiprasad Agarwala, the doyen of Assamese art and culture, the pioneer in producing, directing, scoring music in the first Assamese film ever made — Joymoti, depicting the values and sacrifice of a woman revolting against a tyrannical ruler; ‘Kalaguru’ Bishnuprasad Rava, a revolutionary poet, lyricist, dancer, music composer and artist etc; Natasurya Phani Sharma, the famous playwright and actor, the roving minstrel Dr Bhupen Hazarika, the internationally known music maestro, producer, director, music scorer in a number of award-winning films, ‘Mancha-Konwar’ Chandradhar Goswami etc to name a few.
In the history of the theatre 1925—1945 was the Golden Period, when Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Phani Sarmah, Chandradhar Goswami, Dr Bhupen Hazarika brought a new direction to Assamese drama and music through the platform like Baan theatre.
A comfortable and convenient theatre hall with a seating capacity of 700 persons erected years back with donations and contributions from various sources including voluntary organisations and individuals is presently under a multi crore renovation work with worth Rs 4.5 crore is expected to be completed by 2026 with ultra-modern theatrical facilities.
Baan Theatre of Tezpur came into being in 1906 and named after King Bana has been a mammoth contributor to the development of modern art and culture in the region this year attained 118 years of its existence.
