Not Coming to a Theatre Near You…

The tradition Bengalese drama form jatra has gained widespread popularity in India. Traveling acting companies, many of them from West Bengal, perform jatras (which include nonstop music, overwrought love songs, and elaborate pyrotechnics) to sold-out crowds. The art form is both entertainment and, for many in rural areas where illiteracy runs high and access to foreign news is limited, a way of learning about the world. In recent months, Osama bin Laden has been a popular subject. Although government censors are quick to ban material they think will inflame sectarian violence, some Osama-themed jatras still make the cut. One of these depicts the fall of the Twin Towers and subsequent American attack on Afghanistan. U.S. officials and Northern Alliance soldiers are mocked, and bin Laden himself comes off as “relatively tame”. Still, the actors take pains to condemn terrorism, and the jatra ends with a cry for peace. – YaleGlobal