Piyal Bhattacharya is an Indian theatre director and

Natyashastra The ''Nāṭya Shāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary b ...

scholar from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. He is proficient in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, English,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

. He has founded the Spanda Art Space near

Garia Garia is a neighbourhood of South Kolkata in the Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is bordered by the neighbourhoods of Jadavpur in the north, Bansdroni/Tollygunge in the north-west, Santoshpur/ Mukundapur in the north-ea ...

, Kolkata.

Life and work

Born in

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

, Piyal Bhattacharya received training in

Kathakali ''Kathakali'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kathakaḷi ) is a traditional form of Indian Classical Dance, and one of the most complex forms of Theatre of India, Indian theatre. It is a play of verses. These vers ...

under Kalamandalam Balasubramanian at

Kerala Kalamandalam Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed-to-be-University of Art and Culture by the Government of India, is a major centre for learning Indian performing arts, especially those that developed in the country's southern states, with special emphasis on tho ...

. Later, he studied

and

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

under Kamlesh Dutt Tripathi,

Bharat Gupt Bharat Gupt (born 28 November 1946 in Uttar Pradesh) is an Indian People, Indian classicist, theatre theorist, sitar and surbahar player, musicologist, cultural analyst and newspaper columnist. He is also a retired Professor in English, who tau ...

Puru Dadheech Puru Dadheech (Purushottam Dadheech, 17 July 1939) is a Kathak dancer. He is a choreographer and educator of Indian classical dance, and is known for his pioneering work in the field of Kathak. At the oldest Kathak department which was formed i ...

N. Ramanathan Professor N. Ramanathan (born 1946) is a musicologist in India. He taught and guided research in the Department of Indian Music at the University of Madras since 1978, and retired in 2004. Biography He obtained a bachelor's degree in Violin (So ...

, Urmila Sharma and others. He learnt Rudraveena of Dagar Gharana under Suvir Mishra, Asit Banerjee, Bahauddin Dagar, and of Dabir Khan Gharana from Ujwalendu Chakraborty; Haveli Sangeet under Gokulotsav Maharaj; Sarasvathi-veena under Vijaya Varalakshmi; Pung-Achoba under Premjit Singh; and

Kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu (), also known simply as Kalari, is an Indian martial art that originated on the southwestern coast of India, in what is now Kerala, during the 3rd century BCE. Etymology Kalaripayattu is a martial art which developed out of co ...

under P.K. Balan Gurukkal. Bhattacharya is known for his work on the reconstruction of a holistic system of Natya from the

, i.e., the

Marga Natya Based on the study of Natya Shastra text, the common Indian grammar of performing arts and literature is referred to as Marga in the post-Natyashastra period. Deshis are regional forms of performing arts, many of which are developed based on reg ...

. He has contributed significantly with reconstruction of the

Karana (dance) Karanas are the 108 key transitions in the classical Indian dance described in 4th Chapter named "Tandava Lakshana" of Natya Shastra. ''Karana'' is a Sanskrit verbal noun, meaning "doing". Description Natya Shastra states that Karanas are the fr ...

including Vachikabhinaya, and Aharya, and Angahara (movements of the body, including gestures, facial expressions, and dance). He has also worked towards reconstructing the Atodyas (musical instruments or instrumental music) – Tri-Pushkaras, Vipanchi-Chitra-Mattakokila Vinas – and the Gandharva system of singing. He is a visiting faculty of

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

Research

Piyal has undertaken thorough research into the reconstruction of

, stemming from Nritta, Geet, and Abhinaya practices outlined in

Bharata (sage) Bharata (Devanagari: भरत) was a '' muni'' (sage) of ancient India. He is traditionally attributed authorship of the influential performing arts treatise ''Natya Shastra'', which covers ancient Indian dance, poetics, dramaturgy, and music. ...

. His aim is to engage with contemporary societal issues while forging a connection between ancient and modern theatrical forms. Central to his exploration is an investigation into the linguistic nuances present in Indian theatrical traditions.

Theatre direction

Bhattacharya has directed ChitraPurvaranga, Uparupaka Bhanaka, Bhanika and Shudraka's Padmapabhritakam Bhana as Padmanka-Gatha. For two other directorial ventures, he adopted Kalidasa's Meghadutam and Ritusamharam respectively as Viraha-Gatha and Samvatsar-Kathaa. His directorial ventures have been performed in major national and international dance and theatre festivals in India. He has also adopted Bhasa's five Sanskrit plays to direct Bhasa-Bharatam, a repertory-production of the National School of Drama, Sikkim.

Awards

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

2023 for his contribution in Other Major Traditions of Theatre (Sanskrit Theatre)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Piyal Living people Bengali Hindus 20th-century Bengalis Bengali theatre personalities Indian theatre directors Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Year of birth missing (living people)