Kolkata:
Jyoti Basu will come alive on stage later this month with a prominent
jatra (folk opera)
group mounting a production on the Marxist legend touching the last 40 years of his eventful life.
Titled
Alor Sikha Amar Jyoti, the
jatra, scheduled to roll out in end-February, will begin with his death on January 17 and then goes back 40 years to 1972 when the mass leader engaged in confrontation with the Congress at Baranagar in the city's northern fringe.
The manager of the
jatra company 'Anjali Opera', Prashanta Goswami, said that he wants to cash in on the wave of popularity post the death of the leader, with a near-hysteric crowd attending his funeral procession and the media frenzy.
"The facts will be presented through the voice of a 'journalist character' who having known Basu for a long time will chronicle the landmark events in the leader's life which will then be enacted," Goswami said.
After touching Basu's stint as opposition leader in the early 70s, his coming to power with a massive popular mandate in 1977, his historic public meeting following the rout of Congress and his stint in Writers Building from the late 70s till 2000 will all find place in the over three-hour-long play.