Natta Company - Corporate Evolution

Corporate Evolution

Natta Company started its journey in the nineteenth century in Bangladesh. It started from a small village of Barishal known as Machrang. At that time jatras, were based on stories, written on religious, mythological and historical plots. Different parts of epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata was also performed. They performed in temple courtyards, narrating the events of their patron god's life, and expressed their devotion with frenzied acting. The collective singing amidst the clang of gongs and fumes produced a mass hypnosis and sent these singers into an acting trance.

Natta Company became more popular for its musical presentations and their colorful and glittering outfits, which were the main attractions for the poor and illiterate rural audience. Moreover as they were vastly familiar with the various religious and mythological stories, so the themes of palas were predominantly based on them. It stated venturing out to nearby towns and gradually to the cities like Dhaka, Barishal, Jashor, Khulna etc. The influence of regional variations in culture and language also enriched the contents of their palas.

Socio-political environment always had a prominent effect on jatras. The influence of society helped the audience to relate themselves and their environment with the jatra. As political consciousness grew in pre-independence India, jatra writers started exploring the social and political scenario related to Indian freedom movement to find new ideas for their palas. Mythological stories, fights between good and evil, symbolized the Indian masses and the British. The Devil was dressed in the tight trousers and black jacket of the nineteenth century, and the Noble Prince wore the Indian dhoti. “Swadeshi Jatra”, written by Mukunda Das, came when India and Bengal were going through a turbulent time. Natta Company, in their jatras, never confronted or criticized the political system directly. For this reason, at the times of swadeshi movement when the British were closing down different jatra group or banning different stage theaters and jatras, Natta Company was not affected.

After the ‘Great Bengal Famine’ of 1943, Natta Company performed the jatra pala – “Akaler Desh” which became very popular with the masses. In 1948, they made “Parashmani” to highlight the importance of educating women. In the 60’s, “Plaban” was made to focus on the different facets of Zamindari system. The golden period of Natta Co. started from late 60’s and continued till 70’s when they produced quite a few popular palas.

Some of the other prominent palas from the Natta Co. were ‘Karunasindhu Vidyasagar’, ‘Patiter Bhagaban’. But all throughout, they were always focused on quality offering and entertaining the common people. Monetary gains were never an important issue for them. As said by Makhan Natta, “The objective was not money but it was to entertain and to inform the general mass about the social scenario”.

The Juri system, which utilized surrogate singers for otherwise talented actors, continued till the first decade of the present century. By the second decade people were tired of the Juri because it continued for hours, spinning fine melodic gossamers that suspended the theatrical enjoyment. It had become a sort of an exercise in classical singing out of proportion to the drama. The public would taunt if the singers over did their long musical performance. Slowly it went into disrepute. Natta Company used actors who could sing very well. There was no concept of playback singing but in some cases chorus was used. Traditionally, all roles have been played by male actors. Some played young heroes, some vicious villains, some comic fools, some the Vivek (Conscience) and some specialize in female roles.

Till the 70s there was no actress in Natta Company. Male actors used to play the female character. Most actors add the suffix Rani (graceful lady) to their name to distinguish themselves as female artist. In ‘Patiter Bhagaban’ Phani Bhattacharya, who plays the Queen Mother and Hari Gopal Das became famous as the best emotional "actress." In the role of ‘Debi’, wife of the cobbler saint in ‘Petiter Bhagwan’. He had twenty years of experience behind his feminine grace and wifely pathos. But, with the passing time, tastes change. To satisfy the changing taste of the audience Natta Company appointed actresses.

Instruments like Harmonium, Cornet, Clarinet, Violin, Tabla, Dholak, etc. were played by experienced musicians, which enchanted the audience. In the beginning Natta Company appointed writers who would write the prose, script, poems, songs and dialogs. Afterwards with the increasing number of jatra troops, competition from different other players of the entertainment industry and due to the changing scenario writers were not appointed. Freelance writers and professional writers started to write for Natta Company on mutual contract. Natta Company always made it sure that the story is not copied from anyone or anywhere and it should be original.

After the partition of India, Natta Company shifted permanently to Kolkata (Calcutta). Natta Company was already popular in Kolkata, so it was not very difficult to establish its popularity. In Kolkata, Natta Company started to perform in different theaters like – Star Theater, Mahajati Sadan, Rang Mahal, Bidyamandir, Minarva etc. Renowned actors of Bengali film industry and stage-theater worked with Natta Company and Makhan Lal Natta was a well known name in the Industry.

As time moved on television, VCRs and VCPs came in. Increasing number of television channels and movie theaters were stealing away the popularity of jatra. Even in Calcutta where it was fast losing its ground, it cropped up in night in various squares and alleys. There is hardly a Bengali who in his childhood has not sat for hours watching the colorful jatra. Today a jatra pala, lasting four hours, consists of action-packed dialogue with only six to eight songs. Still it retains its musical character. People wait for the songs, which in their popularity compete with those from films. Among the people the form retains its name, "jatragan", which means "musical jatra." When a Bengali goes to see a performance he says that he is going to "listen to" a jatra. Natta Company also focused on the rural sector of Bengal. They were mainly focused towards the audience of Purulia, Midnapur, Bankura. They also started to perform in various cities and towns of Assam, Tripura and part of Bihar.