On Tuesday, March 14, 2023, the play “Raikunjo” was staged at the Experimental Theater Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy by Bhoirobee’s Performing Team under the Direction and Composition of Young Producer Eleas Nabi Faisal.
The main occasion of Raikunjo is the marriage ceremony in Bengal. This dance drama is based on the Dhamail song and dance. Raikunjo is a folk tale, which attempts to depict the marriage customs and culture of the Srihatt region of Bengal. In the Raikunjo, dance drama, the life of the rural people, marriage customs, love stories, and festivals of Bengal, Birha Bandana have come up. Although Dhamail is based on dance, it has featured various contemporary dance styles for the needs of the story.
Cultural personality, writer, researcher and President of “Sommilito Sangskritik Jot’ Golam Kuddus was present as the Chief Guest at the first staging of “Raikunjo”. Ahmed Gias, General Secretary of Path Natak Parishad, was present as a special guest. Besides, Bhoirobee’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer Eleas Nabi Faisal, Managing Director Shahiduzzaman Khan Shahi, and Members of Bhoirobee’s Executive Team along with the Sponsors were present.
Shahiduzzaman Khan Shahi, Managing Director of Bhoirobee, said, “Bhoirobee is a centre for Culture Research and Performing Arts. Bhoirobee is working to keep alive the lost culture of the country mainly through the hands of the young generation. Young students from more than 120+ educational institutions across the country and the Asian continent have joined us in this effort. Based on our research and the data emerging from it, our performing team is created.”
Chief Guest Mr Golam Kuddus said, “Bhoirobee is working to keep the indigenous culture alive. Many have attempted this but have fallen back after facing various hurdles. Bhoirobee has been doing this bravely for almost 3 years. I wish that they will give such beautiful work in the future as well.”
As a Special Guest, Ahmed Gias said, “Raikunjo’s performance of Bhoirobee Written and Directed by Young Director Eleas Nabi Faisal won the hearts of the audience. The maker has shown bravery with the new artists. Raikunjo should be staged every month. The hall will be packed with people I can assure you. We stand by any help in this regard.”
At the end of the drama production, Eleas Nabi Faisal, the Writer and Director of Raikunjo drama, said, “Dhamail is a unique folk dance of Bengal. Dhamail song and Dhamail dance are traditional folk dances of the Sylhet region which are a part of the folklore of the region. This song and dance are performed at any holy event. It is a narrative performance; That is, in it, different parts of one subject or story are served in stages. We, Bhoirobee conduct a workshop focusing on Dhamail dance and song. Later that workshop was given the shape of Raikunjo drama. All our team have tried their best to bring you a beautiful presentation. We will try to come up with more beautiful works in the coming days.”
The first staging of the Raikunjo play was completed with success. The audience said that they enjoyed the drama Raikunjo a lot. The success of the first staging encouraged Bhoirobee’s team. They expressed hope that the drama “Raikunjo” will be staged more in the future.
Raikunj drama was sponsored by Grammo, JCI Dhaka Young, Daily Ittefaq, Cultural Classicist, Admission.AC, DIU Creative Park, TF Group of Industry, Priyangbada and many others.
