The Magic of Shankarscope
In the souvenir of Shankarscope in 1970, Dada wrote, “For the past 20 years or more I have been thinking of preparing a most unusual type of variety show which no one could ever imagine….due to acute financial stringency, I could not take up this project in hand earlier – although during the recent past some of the countries, I understand, have successfully come out with similar entertainments which I have never seen. Whatever it may be, I am now happy that my dream has come true at last. This is a unique variety show on the stage with the help of the film. It combines stage and screen together with magical effects, and is highly developed technically which I am sure will create a new channel for a great industry in this country.”
He also wrote in the same write-up, “From the very beginning of my artistic career, I never wanted to go on with mere repetitions, but always tried to produce something new and exclusive, strictly based on Indian traditions and culture.”
As far as the title of the production is concerned, Uday Shankar wrote, “…my beloved friend, the distinguished journalist Royjee (Late Manashi Roy)…former Patrika columnist…after seeing my earlier creations of Shadow Play…remarked, “Well, Mr. Shankar, the show is unique, but you have probably made a mistake by not naming it ‘Shankarscope’.” That is why this production is titled Shankarscope.”
Once Dada returned to India from the USA, after resting and recouping for a few months, he sent word towards the beginning of 1970 that he wanted to embark on a new production. I went. A few other troupe members were also present. He sat us down and described his novel idea of merging both the film and stage performance for this new production. At times it would appear as if the characters from the screen had come alive on stage. We were all at a loss, for it was beyond our comprehension as to how such a merging could be achieved.
POWERED BY A432 PRODUCTIONS. 2026.
Images: Private collection of Shanti Bose
Read More...
Dada had already started working on the music of Shankarscope with his Music Director Kamalesh Maitra who not only composed the music, but also penned the lyrics for the introductory song. He had also begun working on the lyrics of the other songs as well with Gouri Prasanna Mazumdar. Mazumdar had also penned the dialogues used in the item ‘Eternal Song’. Dada had started discussing his plans in detail with cinematographer, Mahindra Kumar as this was to be a unique film which would require extreme synchronization for the scenes which would combine both film and live performances. Although as dancers, we did not have much of a role to play during this period, nonetheless as Dada’s Ballet Master, I was present for these sessions along with a few other members, to better our understanding of what Dada had envisaged.
Dada had always been fascinated by magic and the art of illusion. So, after his shadow plays, this was probably the first time he could give reign to his dreams with the help of advanced technology and of course the financial support of Ranjit Mull Kankaria. A noted film producer and distributor, Ranjit Mull Kankaria, was to be the producer of Shankarscope. But like us, he too was equally confounded by Dada’s concept and found it difficult to comprehend how the stage and the screen could be used simultaneously for any performance.
After a few days, to help us understand what exactly he had on his mind, Dada displayed a three-dimensional handmade model of about 2 feet in length, 1 foot in height and one and a half feet in depth. He had made this model using boxes of various sizes, including matchboxes, all set on a tray. I am attempting to illustrate as closely as possible from memory of something that took place almost 40 years ago - how the stage was set up in order to make this merging technically possible.
Key for the picture:
A – Audience
B – Stage
C – Black Curtain covering a cuboid shaped cage like structure
D – Overlapping flap used as entrance and exit by dancers, which was not visible to the audience
E – A Platform, of about 4 feet in width, on top of C where the dancers would stand, ready for their entrance through point G
F – White projection screen comprising 8 overlapping flaps encased in a frame of aluminium piping, suspended on three suspenders, which could lower and raise the screen as necessary
G – Entrance point for dancers on the platform
H - A staircase with 8 steps which would lead the dancer to the stage
I – Three suspenders that were used to suspend the white screen F
Read More...
There was also a staircase behind the cage like cuboid structure to enable the artists to climb up to the platform E. As far as the technical aspect was concerned, the merging of the screen characters with the same characters in life on stage was achieved by gently diminishing the size of the character on screen in the film, to the actual height of the person in real life. The character on screen would move to the right-hand side of the screen towards the point G. Through careful synchronization, not only was the height matched, but a simultaneous switching off of the screen projection and the switching on of a dim light at entrance point G would make it appear as if the character had suddenly come alive on stage. The performer would then use the 8 steps − which were wide enough to allow a single person to move comfortably – to come down on stage and perform their item. This was the technique that was used for all the items except for the item Beauty Competition.
The first item performed in Shankarscope, was based on the title song ‘Scope Scope Shankarscope’, where all the dancers used to perform together on stage. The lyrics and music of the song was written by Dada’s music director, Kamalesh Maitra. Like many of Dada’s works, most of the items in Shankarscope were a commentary on the existing social scenario. Some were a spoof, some a satire and others a mockery. So, despite providing a good deal of humour they also provoked thought on many of the existing social norms.
Various clips from the film Kalpana were included in Shankarscope. They comprised the song Bharat Jai Jan – written by the poet Sumitranandan Panth, Dance of Shiva, Dream of Rhythm, Kartikeya, Drum Dance and Naga.
Among the main items, a portion from the second half of Prakriti Ananda, was shown on film, but the rest of Prakriti Ananda, was depicted as a fantasy based on Tagore’s dance drama Chandalika.
Eternal Song was a very touching and moving item. It portrayed a young couple, newly engaged and very much in love. They met with a fatal accident on the way back from their engagement party. Before meeting their end, like all young lovers, they had been committed to each other. But after death, they realize that nothing that they had believed to exist was real. The earth, the sky, the wind, forests, oceans, vice or virtue, man or woman, fear or envy, caste nor religion − nothing existed, for nothing was eternal. There is only God, the one Supreme Power.
Read More...
Both film and stage was used to execute this item. The first half was shown on screen. It was only when the young couple found themselves in the realm of the unknown after death, did the performers step on to the stage. One of the most appreciated acts in this item was when the young couple vanished from the stage at the end of their performance. Like all illusionary tricks this too was a simple yet well-conceived and a well-executed one. So much so, that the audience was never able to guess the trick behind it. Another dancer and I used to be dressed entirely in black – black socks, black slacks, black full sleeved T-shirts, black gloves and finally a black mask which would cover our entire head till our shoulders. Only the space for our eyes would be left uncovered except for two patches of black net covering the twin openings. Two white sheets of cloth would be kept lying on the stage. The young couple after exploring life after death, would pick up the two sheets, hold it behind themselves, above their heads and walk towards the black screen C. My partner and I, dressed completely in black, standing very close to the black screen C, near the opening D, would take the sheets from the performers’ hands and hold it in close proximity in the same manner momentarily before letting the sheets go, while the young couple would swiftly exit through the opening D. With us being invisible in the dim light, the illusion was that the young couple had suddenly vanished from the stage.
Another humorous piece was Lady and the Thief. A short spoof on the life of a modern society lady through stage and screen, it generated much laughter from the audience. The item began with the lady in question, being out, attending a special dinner, leaving her old mother-in-law at home, in the care of a trusted and faithful darwan or guard. During her absence, a thief entered the house (I used to enact the role of the thief), and tried to escape with valuable ornaments. But the thief could not escape as he was entrapped by the elderly lady, much to the surprise of the thief himself, as well as the audience.
Dance Mad, another item, was a mockery of the melodramatic love affairs of modern-day Romeos as popularized by the then existing popular cinemas. The entire sequence was expressed with instrumental music and mime, without any dialogue.
Beauty Competition, another item, was a satire on beauty competitions of the day, and on the temporary nature and shallowness of external beauty; and the fact that true beauty lies within and it is this beauty that makes a person beautiful.
Read More...
In this item, which was the second last item of the show, both the white screen F, as well as the projection on the screen, would be slowly lowered in front of the black screen C. This was possible because the white projection screen F used to be suspended with three invisible suspenders from the top. This action required a tremendous amount of coordination to ensure that the audience did not even realize that there had been a change in the level of the projection and the screen. There was about 1 foot space between the two screens − F in front and C directly behind it – the white projection screen and the black one. In the last shot on the screen in this item, 8 beauty queens were projected. They used to suddenly burst out of the screen and start performing live on stage. This was achieved by the use of the 6 overlapping flaps in the white screen. Once the screen had been lowered, the 6 dancers, who were being shown on the screen would enter through the flap D in the black screen C and position themselves against their respective flaps and images. Then again with remarkable synchronization, the projection would be switched off and the stage lights would be switched on simultaneously, and at the same time, the 8 dancers who were being shown on the screen, would come alive on stage and perform by entering through the 8 flaps. This was the only sequence where the dancers would come directly onto the stage rather than first on the platform E and then onto the stage B. Dada had during one of the shows, used this technique to come on stage directly at the end of the show, but for whatever reason, did not continue with the act. The film would show Uday Shankar drive up in a car and then open the door and step out onto the stage using the same technique described above.
The last item of Shankarscope was titled Epilogue. This was a joyous dance, where all the dancers of the troupe participated. The striking aspect of this dance was its lighting. Dada introduced, for the first time in India, strobe lights or stroboscopic lamps. The lights could be adjusted to whatever tempo was required and as per the Statesman, this “final dance with the light throwing flickering shadows on the backdrop looked like an exotic dream.” This was augmented by the fact that strobe lights give the feel of freezing motion at rhythmic intervals. Quite clichéd now, they were nonetheless, in the early 70’s quite a path-breaking and innovative enterprise.
But the item that stole the show according to one and all was, of course, Kartikeya. This item was the first item after the interval. This was necessary as the stage had to be readied with a black net, which did not have a single stitch on it, covering the entire stage. It was dropped towards the front of the stage, behind the front curtains. This black net had been used in most of Dada’s productions, be they Samanya Kshati, Prakriti Ananda, or during our tours, for various purposes. In Shankarscope, a clipping of Kartikeya from the film Kalpana used to be projected on this screen, while all the dancers of the troupe – the men dressed in cream coloured dhotis and the women clad in sarees – would dance in a dim light behind this projection on the latter half of the stage. Statesman opined, “Mr. Shankar secured a unique effect by projecting the Kartikeya sequence on a transparent screen behind which the cast was dancing. Careful synchronization between the screen images and the movements on the stage was evident in all the sketches.”
So impressive, grand and novel was this production that the press critic from Cine Advance not only termed it ‘An Unforgettable Evening’, but also wrote, “Even ‘unique’ seems to be a mild term to describe what I have seen that evening.” Such was the demand, that we performed two daily shows at the Academy of Fine Arts everyday for two whole months, with three shows at times, on Sundays.
The opening day of Shankarscope on December 11, 1970 saw Mamo (Mamata Shankar) present a Bharatnatyam recital under the direction of Guru Gyan Prakashan. After 1970, we again staged Shankarscope during the summer of 1971 in Kolkata, for over one and a half months; and in-between in Delhi, for about a week. During this period I did not perform in a few shows due to personal reasons. However, I was requested to rejoin the troupe, and I simply could not respond to Dada in the negative.
The music recording for Shankarscope was recorded at Technicians Studio, while the film recording was held at New Theatres Studio No.2. The main artists who participated in Shankarscope were N. K. Shivashankaran, Polly Guha, Sadhan Guha, Anupama Das, Omkar Mallick and me. Sunanda was unable to participate in Shankarscope as she was expecting our first child – our daughter, Sulakshana.
When Shankarscope was restaged in 1972, Samanya Kshati was staged for 1 hour, after which Shankarscope was presented for one hour. A few movie clips from Kalpana were discarded at this point, due to time constraints, for Dada did not believe in prolonged performances. Even Samanya Kshati was presented in its shortened version as originally depicted in Tagore’s poem. The principal characters of Queen Karuna and the King were played by Anupama Das and me respectively.
Dada used to enact the role of the King himself previously, so it was indeed a great honour for me to perform the role dressed in Dada’s own costume, in his presence. I had also rearranged and, in a few instances, re-choreographed a few of the dances for which Dada honoured me with the title of Assistant Director in his 1972 production of Samanya Kshati.
Shankarscope, Dada’s magnum opus which became a trend setter for many of the current performances that we see nowadays − merging film with live performers − was the last of Dada’s productions. By now, at the age of 72, Dada was not in the best of health. He had also become very lonely. But as fate would have it, he found a reason to live life anew.
His renewed vigour led him to formulate in his mind, a new production. He wanted to name it Stagnant and Flow. The story was to be set in the background of a mountain by the sea. The ballet would depict the story of an enclosed, stagnant pool of water, in a small depression on the side of the mountain. Time had led to the pool to become muddy and filthy. Suddenly, one day, a huge wave lashed against the mountainside. The fathomless sea in its generosity and magnanimity, washed away all the dirt and filth from the pool, and gave it a new life. The pool, with its new found youth, was once again inspired to start living with renewed verve all over again.
It is our misfortune that despite having formulated a new idea for a production, Dada was unable to give form to it. Death snatched away this creative genius from our midst on September 26, 1977.
