SAMAHAR Natya Gosthee

SAMAHAR Natya Gosthee, established in 1984, is a popular and the most proactive theatre group in Assam. It has given a new dimension to peoples' theatre in the state. Since its inception, it has presented issue-based proscenium, street as well as television productions. Though active in different media, it has chosen street theatre as its main mode of conveying message to the people.

Although Samahar came into existence in the early eighties, it produced until 1989 only one stage drama – Siddhanta -- a play based on the pitiable condition of a freedom fighter in independent India. After its first show in 1985, the group remained dormant in the following few years until its rebirth again in 1989, when noted theatre activist Safdar Hashmi was brutally killed during a performance in Sahibabad, near New Delhi.

The first ever Assamese street play was Kokaidew (1973) by the Gahbar Natya Gosthee. After this single instance, there was an absolute lull in any street theatre activity within the state until April 12, 1989. On that day, which is Safdar’s birth anniversary and celebrated as the National Street Theatre Day, Samahar presented its first street play "Sandhikkhan". A few other groups also performed on the same occasion, but their journey into the world of street theatre could not continue beyond a few years.

However, the overwhelming response and encouragement that Samahar received from the public during the first two shows of "Sandhikkhan” and the unrelenting dedication of the team-members propelled it revitalise the street theatre movement in Assam. Samahar, today, is a renowned theatre group not only in Assam but also in the entire North East. It has been performing street theatres on a regular basis in various nooks and corners of the state. Till date, it has reached out to more than two lakh people through its 400 plus shows of 20 street plays.

The group is equally active on proscenium form too. Since enacting its second play "Aadharshila" (1989), it has done hundreds of productions on various stages across the country. While the exhilarating "Kahaya Chandee Dasa" performed at NSD's Bharat Rang Mahotsava in 2003 brought Samahar national recognition, it mesmerised the Goan audience with its "Maa Nishada" at the Octave Festival in 2008. Samahar also left its mark as a leading drama group in the subcontinent by participating at the Tri-Nation Drama Festival (Nepal, India and Bangladesh) in Kolkata in 1999. It presented "Aahuti" that was based on communal harmony. The group has left its imprint on the minds of more than 1.5 lakh people so far across various parts of the country with about 100 stage productions of over 10 plays.

In addition, the Guwahati-based theatre group has produced two tele-films that were telecast on Doordarshan.

Samahar perhaps is the rare theatre group in Assam whose all the productions so far are indigenous creations. It has never adopted or translated any play for its own performance. Through the hundreds of productions in various forms, Samahar has touched almost all the social issues such as terrorism, unemployment, communal harmony, corruption, political disturbances, various social movements, casteism, women’s upliftment, social evils like witch hunting and ultra-nationalism.

All the plays that Samahar has enacted have been written and directed by its founder and General Secretary, Dr Sitanath Lahkar. It was (and still is) the initiative of Dr Lahkar and his like-minded friends Lalit Chandra Sharma (the President of the group since inception) and Bhudhar Chandra Barman (Vice President) among several other highly supportive well-wishers, that are at the very base of Samahar's birth and existence. Presently many progressive members of the society, including Taheruddin Ahmed, Raj Kumar Roy, Bhupesh Sharma, Namita Lahkar, Kumkum Malakar and Manabendra Bhattacharyya along with several others, are weighing behind Samahar in its crusade towards creation of an atmosphere of alternative theatre in Assam.

Whether the members of Samahar got arrested during its performance (like in 1993 while performing “Agnigarbha” -- a full-length play on the infamous and shameful Assam agitation) or were stoned by religious fanatics (like by the Sangh Parivar members in 1995 while performing “Kaandhot Milaao Kaandh” -- a street play on communalism), the group has never bowed down before, or succumbed to the threats hurled by the evil forces. There were times when Samahar had to fight even with a section of the society, misled by the religious propaganda of a few people with vested interests and inimical to the mission of the group, as they tried to dismantle its office-cum-rehearsal hall under the pretext of constructing a "Naamghar" (a place of worship in Assam)! Samahar fought and succeeded. As of today, Samahar is proud to own its office-cum-rehearsal hall, constructed with aids from no external agency but helps from well-wishers.

Of late, Samahar has undertaken a noble mission towards revitalising the theatre movement in Assam. Since 2007, it has started organising an annual event "Brajanath Sharma Memorial Drama Festival" in the hallowed memory of the father of modern Assamese theatre and the unique firebrand freedom fighter Brajanath Sarma, who had destroyed and set ablaze the British aerodrome at Bornagar in Barpeta district. He was also the man, who first brought in woman on the stage and introduced co-acting in Assam in 1933.

At present, Samahar has its information centres/contact points at Bangalore and Varanasi.