They have their entrances and their exits,” so says the Bard of Avon Shakespeare in his well-known drama ‘As You Like It’. Then if the world is a stage, it is but natural that there must be some directors to guide the course of such a genre for providing them the aesthetic delight. No wonder then, Abhinna (whose name literally means the inseparable) has merged and mingled with this form to provide an irresistible charm of soothing sensation and delight through catharsis to the theatre aficionados by his inimitable direction. It is not hard to sell drama in the dream that made him quit a lucrative government job and turned him an ardent devotee of the dramatic art. Now, he is on a hectic schedule to make that dream come true by doing experiment in form and presentation of drama, conducting workshops and searching a new etymology of theatre art. His dream is gradually shaping into a conviction that it is not impossible for drama and theatre to bring money like blockbuster films. It all sounds so convincing as this claim made by none other than a celebrated and well-known theatre-director who has built a wide audience base across Odisha and beyond in a career that has brought life on the stage in the plays of renowned playwrights like Dr Ramachandra Behera, Mohan Rakesh, Vijaya Tendulkar, Krishen Chandar. A nimbly sensitive director, he is Abhinna Routray, who offers audience new flavour every time he produces a new play. Hailing from a far-flung village called Tigiria near Balichandrapur in Jajpur district, Routray harbours a fresh aesthetic preference in building the drama and handling the characters that cast a spell on an audience that ever yearn for more from him. He is now working with a premier organisation called Jeevan Rekha. In an interview to The Pioneer, Routray spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on the many challenges and on the many of his success stories.
When did you get fascinated by the majestic art called drama? Would you narrate us the story of that long, hard battle you might have faced all along the way till you turned a well-known director?
I have never found it a battle, nor have I faced any obstacle in the way running to now when I am suddenly realising that the meaning and mission of my life, truly, lies in pursuing theatre. I have taken it as a long celebratory contemplation that I have been undertaking at my sweet will for ages! A theatre-activist is an embodiment of an aristocratic mindset and it delights me that I am one. I owe a lot to theatre that I can’t repay! It all began, I remember, when I found myself acting in my high school plays. Acting, actors and stage appeared more intimate to me than anything else, then. Thereafter I turned a devout audience of drama; and that is a habit I have kept to this day.
How do you characterise the style you adopt to build your plays?
I don’t like to be stereotype, nor do a tread a trodden path. I abide by what a particular play warrants to move the viewers. I emphasise on selection of script, rehearsals running for days, and on training of the models. I keep a keen eye on dialogue delivery, body-language and emotions. I feel pride for working for Odisha.
How do you assess the theatrical scenario in our state?
We possess a treasure-trove of original heartwarming Odia stories. We have a rich ensemble of folklores, folkdance. We can relish water, air and soil of our Odisha in there. They can be adapted into delightful plays with fresh allure. We need more expertise to mould them into dazzling dramatic artworks. We lack state-of-the-art training for our models. We need to discipline our troupes and we also need more opportunities. In order to excel others at national and international arenas, we have experiment more and more with form and presentation.
How far the hopes of Odia theatre lovers have been accomplished and to what extent the tradition of Odia dramas have been enriched after the reorganisation of the Odisha Natya Sangha?
The Odisha Natya Sangha, established in the year 1988, has been catering to the tastes and sensibilities of the Odishan milieu of theatre loving audience. I have been entrusted with the responsibilities as its secretary for the last seven years which has pushed me to work with more enthusiasm, vigour, vitality working close to our mission. As many as forty-eight drama troupes have been staging plays every year in the academy at Bhubaneswar with the patronage of the Government of Odisha in the very presence hundreds of Odia theatre lovers.
What are your special style of presentation in Odia drama?
I don’t claim to have a special style of my own. Like all other dramatists and pioneering directors, I am not free from the structure, texture, dialogue, costumes and from catharsis or the purgation’s of emotions which form the sonum bonum of the dramatic art form. I always lay emphasis on the selection of artists and lend them training and expertise after months of rigorous exercise.
This is the key of my success story. I shall live happy and contented if I shall work for the interest of my soil and for the race of my Odia nation.
What are your next presentations on the anvil?
My next presentation would be an Odia translation ‘Ye Jhia’ of Krishna Soveti’s famous Hindi drama ‘Ye Ladki’ on January 30, 2019 at the Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar. Besides, I am also going to present the celebrated dramatist Vijaya Tendulkar’s plays in Odia translated as ‘Kanyadan’, ‘Chup, Court Chalichi’ and ‘Kamala’ at the Bhanja Kala Mandap on February 13,14 and15.