Silent Storytelling : Srikanta Bose & his #onemanmime
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Silent Storytelling : Srikanta Bose & his #onemanmime
Silent Storytelling : Srikanta Bose & his #onemanmime
Silent Storytelling : Srikanta Bose & his #onemanmime
Silent Storytelling : Srikanta Bose & his #onemanmime
Explore the silent storytelling journey of Srikanta Bose and his #onemanmime, a tribute to India’s rich mime tradition intertwined with global influences. Discover his transformative path from disciple to acclaimed artist, showcasing the universal language of mime across diverse cultures.
The renowned French mime artist Marcel Marceau who is credited with popularising, what he called, the “art of silence”, claimed to have trained himself in the art of mime whileย watching moviesย โ Charlie Chaplin movies, to be specific, which perhaps prompted him to remark โ Chaplin made me laugh and cry without saying a word. I had an instinct. I was touched by the soul of Chaplin – Mime is not an imitator but a creatorโ. That was many moons ago when the mime was yet to be recognised as a performing art. Though the language of gesture as a communication medium long existed in ancient civilisations around the globe. If we turn to India, we find both a religiously rich in gestural significance and the oldest dramatic art in the world. It has its own mime tradition, dating back almost 3,000 years to the seminal text โNatya Shastraโ, by Bharatmuni where it is termed โAngika abhinayaโ ( body acting) and also in the form of Kathakali and Bharatanatyam etc. that makes Indian mime different in tone and tenor to the European mime tradition.ย
Srikanta Bose, a disciple of Jogesh Dutta, the doyen of mime art in India, has carried on this legacy since he was 16.
As we engaged in a late afternoon tรชte-ร -tรชte, Srikanta Bose described the turn of events that changed the direction of his career. It was a severe knee injury at the school during his teens, that kept him bedridden for months. He being an athletic enthusiast such a restricted mobility meant immense heartbreak as the tracks were out of bounds for him. That time around a show of mime presented by none other than Jogesh Dutta, his guru-to-be, on the Doordarshan, had a tremendous impact on him, so much so that he convinced his mother to let him participate in the go-as-you-like event of the local club sporting the attire of a mime artist as he saw on screen. โ I got the first prize in that competition and no sooner, this imbibed in me an urge to become a mime artistโ! ย
With a lot of enthusiasm, he joined the Jogesh Mime Academy (JMA) in Kolkata. It was an intense training of five years under his mentorship. Since mime is an art which primarily based on body movements and acting therefore the training encompassed physiology, anatomy, various dance forms, yoga, use of lights background score, etc al. After the diploma from the Academy Srikanta received the National Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and took advance training on mime. He also participated in the World Mime Festival held in Greece with his guru and secured the first position. The performance took him to different places within the country and abroad. In 2005 he represented India in the Cultural Festival of UNESCO in Paris. He is also the recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Youth Award, 2008 from Sangeet Natak Academi.ย
As a performing art, how does mime fare against other forms of entertainment like theatre and cinema? โItโs all about the communication with the audience,โ quips Srikanta, โthat can be communicated well, would be accepted well.โ In this regard, he feels, the absence of dialogues in mime is not a handicap but an advantage. The language, at times, turns out to be a barrier between the performance and the audience. Srikanta worked with thespian Ratan Thiyam in his Chorus Repertory Theatre, ย who essentially uses his mother tongue Manipuri in scripting the dialogues. But in parallel, he puts mime into use to depict the nuances of his characters which facilitates better understanding. The silent movies made by Charlie Chaplin, Marx Brothers, Hal Roach ( producer of Laurel & Hardy movies), and Buster Keaton were no less popular than the talkies, which also corroborates the acceptability and popularity of mime acts.
Perhaps the unique challenge that Srikanta Bose took up during 2005-07 was a cross-border cycle ride based on a theme of anti-war โ โNo More Bloodโ. โI first travelled through India on a bicycle and then travelled the world covering 41 countries. My aim was to communicate with people all over the world through mime. In some parts of the world, English is not spoken. ย But they all understand body language, that’s what I realized when I met them during my travel. I have stayed with a Kabuli family in Afghanistan, sometimes with Eskimos in an igloo, sometimes with Turkish nomads. Language had never been a barrier for me. The early days of cycling were not smooth sailing. The biggest crisis was the paucity of the necessary funds. That problem was majorly solved by my guru. At that time he gave me Rupees 50 thousand. A few multinational companies also extended their helping hand through sponsorship. I was supposed to go to Europe from Delhi via Pakistan. But as Pakistan did not grant a visa, Indian Airlines flew me and my bicycle from Delhi to Kabul free of charge and I started from Afghanistan.โ
Srikanta is currently going places with his show #onemanmime. He travels extensively around the country and globe to present his shows to a diverse rural and urban audience. โA typical mime act is of short duration say, 30~45 minutes. It helps capture the mindshare of todayโs audience which is extremely fragile these days and therefore calls for โtactfulโ handling. He also undertakes training sessions both at his alma mater JMA and institutions like IITs where there is a tremendous interest and enthusiasm to learn this art.
Srikanta is indebted to his mentor Sri Dutta. Not only he taught him the techniques but also groomed him to present solo acts on stage independently. โAfter the sudden demise of my father, he took that place in my life.โ Srikanta has fond memories of the last stage show of his guru. ย On August 9, 2009, in front of a packed house at Rabindra Sadan, he finished his act titled โThe Thiefโ, came out onto the stage, laid down his wig and costume on the floor, and took his last bow. True to his profession, he didnโt say a single word to the audience. And that was the last time Indiaโs pioneering mime artist appeared in a public performance.
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