Aa-Shakti

Centred on the life and spirit of Shakti Chattopadhyay, Aa-Shakti is not a biographical retelling but a poetic excavation of an era, a restless consciousness, and the solitude of creative defiance.

Playwright: Ujjwal Chattopadhyay

Stage, Design, Music & Direction: Debasish Ray

Centred on the life and spirit of Shakti Chattopadhyay, Aa-Shakti is not a biographical retelling but a poetic excavation of an era, a restless consciousness, and the solitude of creative defiance. The play transcends the portrait of a single poet to embody time itself—where poetry, friendship, wandering streets, rivers, forests, pain, and return emerge as living presences. Shakti appears not as a figure shaped by institutions or movements, but as a poet rooted directly in life—unguarded, humane, and profoundly intimate. His poetry flows like an unseen river, carrying silence, darkness, light, and an aching human truth. Written by Ujjwal Chattopadhyay, the play reconstructs Shakti’s inner world through language, pause, and memory, creating an immersive emotional climate rather than a linear narrative. Under Debasish Ray’s contemplative direction, silence speaks as powerfully as dialogue, while light and shadow sculpt the poet’s journey with rare sensitivity. Anchored by evocative performances from Debashankar Haldar, Soumitra Mitra, Partha Bhowmik, and the Purba Paschim ensemble, Aa-Shakti becomes an inevitable return—not to a place, but to the human core of poetry and existence.

CAST

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Shakti Chattopadhyay: Debshankar Halder

Santosh Kumar Ghosh: Soumitra Mitra

Kolkata: Partha Bhowmik

Haidar: Sanjeeb Sinha

Dadu: Dipen Bhattacharya

Haru: Sanjoy Chakraborty

Pisima: Sampurna Chakraborty

Minakshi Chattopadhayay: Ananya Shou

Biswamitra Sen: Tarun Paul

Babui: Disha Hore