Epic “Padmabati”: A spellbinder by Chittagong University

A full house enjoyed the lyrical drama “Padmabati” by students of Dramatics Department.

Theatre enthusiasts of the port city enjoyed “Padmabati”, a lyrical drama adapted from a work by Moha Kobi (epic poet) Alaol at District Shilpakala Academy auditorium on Saturday evening.
The drama was staged on the first day of a three-day festival organised by Dramatics Department of Chittagong University (CU).
In association with Indian Assistant High Commission, Chittagong the department organised the festival with the theme “Srijona anonde baje natya bina prane”. The Daily Star is the media partner of the festival.
Somnath Ghosh, Indian Assistant High Commissioner, Chittagong inaugurated the festival by releasing fanush (paper lanterns) accompanied with the beats of dhol in the Shilpakala Academy premises.
Earlier, a discussion was held where Anwarul Azim Arif, Vice Chancellor of Chittagong University spoke as the chief guest with Dr. Kuntal Barua, chairman of CU Dramatics Department in the chair. Liaquat Ali Lucky, DG, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy was the chief discussant where CU Pro-VC Dr. Ifthekar Uddin Chowdhury, CU Arts Faculty Dean Dr. Imran Hossain, CU Teachers' Association President Dr. Ali Ashraf and its secretary Md Sekandar Chowdhury also spoke.
Terming theatre as a mirror of society, in his speech VC Anwarul Azim Arif said, dramatics initially fell under the Fine Arts Department. Crossing many hurdles, it has turned into a full-fledged department which is a matter of pride for all theatre enthusiasts, the VC added.
Liaquat Ali Lucky hoped that the students of the department would play a significant role in building a country free from communalism.
Dramatics commenced its journey in 1969 as a subsidiary subject of Bangla Department in CU. Later with supervision of noted writer and then Arts Faculty Dean, Syed Ali Ahsan, dramatics was taught as a prominent subject of Fine Arts Department coordinated by artiste Rashid Chowdhury and famous dramatist Professor Zia Hyder.
In 1988 dramatics was introduced as a preliminary subject in CU with only one student. Professor Zia Hyder was the founder of the department. Honours and Masters were introduced in 1990 in the department. But the activities of the department were halted from 2002 to 2008 due to lack of support from the university authorities.
The department functioned once more in 2009 with the help of the former VC Prof Abu Yusuf. At present 185 students are studying in the department with four permanent teachers and 14 part-time teachers.
Following the short discussion, a full house enjoyed the lyrical drama “Padmabati” staged by students of Dramatics Department.
The two -hour play that incorporated lyrical verse and rhythmic folk dances, focused on the story of “Padmabati”, queen of Chittor who was reputed for her beauty. The Dramatics Department teacher Shameem Hasan directed the play where Latifa Yasmin played the role of Padmabati. Abir Mandal (Tanu) and Shawkat Ali enacted the roles of “Alauddin Shah” and “Ratno Sen”.