Utpal Dutt
Playwright, Performer, Propagandist, Provocateur
Utpal Dutt
Playwright, Performer, Propagandist, Provocateur
Description
There was once a Shakespearean who ran a Brecht society; there was once a firebrand playwright who won three Filmfare acting awards; there was once a comic actor who was banned from performing; there was once a purveyor of documentary theatre who won the national award for best actor; there was once a jatra-maker who was imprisoned on charges of influencing public opinion; there was once a left-leaning theatre stalwart who acted in acclaimed and leading roles in Satyajit Ray's cinema. But they were not six individuals, but one, and his creative life - varied, controversial, provocative, awarded, feted, feared - rivalled few. In short, there was, once, a Utpal Dutt (1929-1993).
There are few like Utpal Dutt in India's public and intellectual life, or one who has left a more remarkable legacy. There has been no better time than now - thirty years into his death and in the middle of a great debate about the political role of the artist - to bring the multiple worlds of Dutt; his many lives and varied voices; and his thriving legacy under one critical and discursive dome. This book is the first and comprehensive collection with that expressed purpose.
Table of Contents
Section A: The Literary Dutt
1. Dutt's prose and his theatrical engagements with Bengal Renaissance
2. Dutt as translator of Shakespeare, Brecht and European theatre
3. Dutt's popular writings in a style of Socratic dialogue - on theatre, activism and world politics
4. A critique of Dutt's most foundational theoretical work Towards a Revolutionary Theatre
Section B: The World as the Stage
1. Artistic interlocutors of Dutt
2. Young Dutt and his association with Kendalls' Shakespeare Theatre Company
3. Dutt, Little Theatre Group and political theatre in postcolonial India
4. Dutt as progenitor of new scenography and production in Bengali theatre
5. Dutt in the context of Jatra, populism and outreach
6. The actor(s) in Dutt
Section C: Dutt and Cinema
1. Dutt, the maker of cinema
2. Dutt(s) enactments in Bengali cinema - from biography to satire
3. Dutt in popular Hindi cinema - the comic boss, the vulgar villain
4. Dutt on television
Section D: Dutt's Visual Imaginarium
PostScript 1: Text of 'Renaissance Man', Dutt's much-loved and stunning tribute to Satyajit Ray
PostScript 2: Selected Prose of Dutt, translated
PostScript 3: Detailed filmography, and work as playwright and director
Product details
| Published | 18 Jun 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 9789356404915 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic India |
| Dimensions | 216 x 135 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing India Pvt. Ltd |
Related Titles
