The sibling revelry
Reviewed by Nirupama Dutt

Balraj and Bhisham Sahni: Brothers in Politcal Theatre
By Kalpana Sahni and P.C. Joshi.
Published by SAHMAT
Pages100. Rs 120

The year was 1944 and the venue was the Cantonment Hall in Rawalpindi. This was when celebrated writer of Hindi, Bhisham Sahni of Tamas fame, then a young man, came face to face for the first time with a play put up by the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). Later, he was to write about the impact of the emotionally charged street play of sorts had on the audience: "When the play ended, the actors and actresses stepped down from the stage with their jholis spread out to collect donations for the Bengal sufferers`85. I remember when one of them came close to where I was sitting; a young lady in the row ahead of mine took off her gold earrings and put them in the actor's jholi."

Interestingly, Bhisham's father sent his younger son to Bombay to persuade elder brother Balraj Sahni to return to Rawalpindi and help out in the family business. Balraj had returned from a BBC assignment in London with his first wife Damyanti but both were camping in Bombay and showed no signs of returning home.

Bhisham's arrival in Bombay coincided with Balraj directing Zubeida, a maiden play for IPTA, and he too was given a small role in it. Bhisham was to recount later: "Needless to say instead of advising and persuading my brother to return home, I got converted myself and came back to Rawalpindi with the script of Zubeida in my pocket."

We remember Balraj as a great actor and Bhisham a writer to reckon with but this book, which is documented by the latter’s daughter, Kalpana Sahni, shows that theatre and that too of the political variety was the first passion of these exceptionally talented brothers. Kalpana says: "This book is a part of a series of initiatives by SAHMAT to evaluate the life and work of those who were involved in the creative field in the cause of social transformation." It was preceded by a conference in 2011 on the Indian People's Theatre Association and the progressive cultural movement. The book also celebrates the journeys of these two brothers whose birth centenaries are round the corner- Balraj (2013) and Bhisham (2015).

The book, or call it a document if you may, includes an essay by P.C. Joshi and essay by Kalpana, with many passages culled from the writings and memoirs of the Sahni brothers. Joshi’s piece was written for the book, Balraj Sahni. An Intimate Portrait. The book, also edited by Joshi, and containing articles by different people was brought out soon after Balraj's death in 1973. Joshi recalls how IPTA went onto make a film on the Bengal famine. It was Dharti ke Lal (1946), which had Balraj and Damyanti in the lead and was written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. Joshi lauds the creative skills of Balraj in organising IPTA. He writes: "His method of work made it a collective effort instead of a one-man show as is the usual trait among middle-class artistes going to the people." Along with the contribution of the Sahni brothers, we also get glimpses of other charged souls like Chetan Anand, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Zohra Sehgal, Shaukat Azmi, lyricist Prem Dhawan and many other charged souls for whom dreams had not died young. Kalpana deserves praise for this fine collective documentation in ‘I-me-mine’ times.

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