“আমি একটা ঘর চেয়েছিলাম। তিন দেওয়ালওয়ালা একটা ঘর। আশা ছিল তার চতুর্থ দেওয়াল আমি নিজে হবো। সে একটা সাজঘর! সেখানে ক্রেপ, স্পিরিট গাম, জিংকের মদির গন্ধে আমি সাজবো। পোশাক পরে, চোখে সুরমা টেনে কনসার্টের জন্য অপেক্ষা করবো অনেকক্ষণ….. “প্রণাম অজিতেশ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়।

• “Saudagarer Nouka” by Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay is a blistering polemic regarding the crisis of identity and relevance of an artist while the form of performing art is under a threat.
• The play is based on a period, when “Jatra”, the rich cultural art form of Bengal, is negotiating with its relevance as a form of entertainment with more spectacular and technically ornamented art forms like Theatre and Cinema. Every art form and artist involved with that art form experience the juncture of time, when the desires and the quantum of pleasure derived from the mediums of entertainment transform, and a certain form of art form becomes irreverent as narrative storytelling becomes more engaging with technological innovations.
• The narrative of the play revolves around a onetime renowned “Jatra” artist, whose artistic expression could not attract the audience’s sensory observation due to his old age and most importantly because the form of performing art that he was comfortable to express his experiences was becoming obsolete and was almost moving towards the verge of oblivion.
• The emotional crisis of an individual of not being able to express, followed by poverty and disrespect from his family members still now captivates the empathy of audiences for the protagonist. The reason for this emotional connect which still happens with the audiences and the play is that now, in this age of the technology-ruled world, art has been dependent more on technology rather than the drive to find out ways to express one’s own experiences of life. Thus “Saudagarer Nouka” holds its relevance in this ephemeral time of both any form of art and an artist, when genres, the language of expression, artists, and art forms are transient.