9th July 2018, Kolkata – With much pomp and glory the much awaited event ‘Ami Chitrangada’, an effort to convey the message that the soul has no gender, finds its place in the hearts of the audience through the beautiful dance theatre curated and performed by Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya along with Megh Sayantan, India’s first Transgender lawyer to win a civil case at the Alipore Court in West Bengal.
The program was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister of Woman and Child Welfare, Dr. Sashi Panja, Rita Bhimani, Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya, Megh Sayantan, Gautam De and Mrs. Bithika Ghosh. The Chief Guest for the event was Shri Shovandeb Chattopadhyay, the Hon’ble Minister of Power and non-conventional Energy. The 5th ‘Ritu Awards’, an honouring ceremony organised by Rudrapolash Dance Academy founded by Sayantan herself to pay a tribute to the legendary soul Rituporno Ghosh, were given to sixteen different people from varied walks of life. The awardees were – Smita Bakshi, Alokananda Roy, Sujay Kumar Chanda, Shyamasree Sen, Jaya Seal Ghosh, Guru Sanchita Bhattacharyya, Mimi Das, Samraggi Mukherjee, Ranjita Sinha, Nandini Bhattacharjee, Aparajita Ganguly, Sudeshna Roy, Sree Basu and Gautam Dey.
The award program was followed by the historical live projection of ‘Ami Chitrangada’ curated and performed by Guru Sanchita and Megh Sayantan along with 12 other transgenders. The houseful audience proved that gender is still a thought of mind and change may happen if one wish to do so. Guru Sanchita believes, “It is a matter of pride to possess the body of a male and heart of a female and that is how they can become complete.” She further adds, “It is time that we accept them and move beyond the gender issue.” Asking Megh Sayantan on her successful event she says, “I am happy that people accepted this wholeheartedly and supported the cause. I just want to pass on the message that the soul has no gender. Every human being must be treated equally as virtue and vice come from the soul and not the gender.”
As the dance theatre started the auditorium was draped into surreal ambiance creating an luring effect on the audience’s mind. The rustic and manly dance by Megh Sayantan as ‘Kurupa’ and the elegant and graceful moves of Guru Bhattacharya created a magical evening on stage. The intense chemistry between ‘Arjun’ justifiably played by Tamanash, a theatre artist, and ‘Surupa’ by Guru Sanchita Bhattacharya immensely ignited the love element on stage to which the two subsequent power cuts during the performance could not break the mood for a second when restarted from the break. The unparalleled dance skills of the Odissi dancer and the bold masculine movements of Megh Sayantan recreated the age-old ‘Chitrangada’ in a new form.
