Dinesh Kamath's news 'An untraditonal step for women empowerment' that was published in Newsband

An untraditonal step for women empowerment

15th century dance drama to be staged at NCPA by female artists

By Dinesh Kamath

MUMBAI: Raginee, a Guwahati based NGO under the flagship of Assam tourism is going to present a 15th century dance drama from Assam which is traditionally known as Ankia Nat at Tata Theatre, NCPA on January 24.

The drama- Ram Bijoy (victory of Lord Ram) was written by great Assamese saint Srimanta Shankar Deva (1449-1568 AD). The original story was taken from the Ramayana and the Agni Purana. The language of the drama is Brajwali, a concoction of Hindi, Assamese, Oriya and Maithali.

In Ankia Nats the female characters are traditonally portayed by male actors and women are not allowed to participate in it. However, keeping in mind the need of women empowerment in the society, the NGO has decided to usher in a change to this age-old tradition. All the characters in the drama will be portrayed by top most female artists from the North East and there will be no male actors. 

Some of the artists who will portray different charatcters in the drama are Malaya Goswami, Madhurima Chowdhury, Chetana Das, Barsha Rani and Nishita Goswami.

“We wanted to turn the tables. We think, women should now come forward to participate everywhere in our society which is said to be male-dominated. Therefore, we have decided that each and every character in the drama will be portrayed only by female aritists,” says Madhurima Choudhury, designer and director of Ram Bijoy, who will be essaying the character of Lord Ram in the play.

“I am proud of all 50 actresses who have achieved success through their relentless hardwork and dedication. I feel that such women driven stage shows can definitely play a pivotal role in empowering women in our country,” she adds.

Chowdhury extends her heartiest thanks to Department of Tourism, Govt of Assam for supporting and encouraging their efforts. “Its only because of Assam Tourism Development Corporation that we could come here to Mumbai to showcase our unique culture, we are grateful to them for bestowing their faith on us,” she says.

Devasish Sharma, deputy resident commissioner of Assam Bhavan, Mumbai says, “Ankia Nat, which is considered to be male oriented, is for the first time being staged by a group of revered and established female artists, who have already made their marks with their wonderful performances in different parts of the country. It is indeed a praiseworthy and a remarkable initiative which I am sure, will leave its foot prints in the sands of time.” 

“Department of Tourism, Govt of Assam deserves a big thanks for promoting such event of national importance,” he adds.