Mustafa Monwar: The Geppetto of our time
Khairul Anam Shakil, a leading Nazrul sangeet singer of Bangladesh, carries a fond memory of his childhood in the late 1960s when he appeared at the audition for the popular television show, Notun Kuri and was interviewed by Mustafa Monwar. That was a moment of inspiration for him. After the interview, Shakil performed live in the programme, which was visualised, conducted and produced by Monwar. Many others in Bangladesh had such artistic encounters with Monwar in their early childhood, which had a lasting impact on their mind. There is a limit to such personal contacts, but Monwar transcended such constraints as his medium was television, whereby personal became public. In independent Bangladesh, Notun Kuri became a flagship event of Bangladesh Television (BTV) that illuminated the hearts and souls of thousands of participants and millions of audience. Monwar was a key person behind the team effort, which was defined by the social, cultural and political backdrop of the time. His vision to bring change, however, had begun before Bangladesh’s independence.
In the annals of cultural resistance of the Bangalee nation against Pakistani domination, the East Pakistan branch of the Pakistan Television (PTV), where Monwar worked, played an exceptional role which was reflected subtly in the content. That was the beginning of Mustafa Monwar’s long journey as an audio-visual artist with a commitment to reach out to the minds of the people, especially the younger ones. He excelled in his multilateral art forms which were powerful and collective. Gradually, he became the undisputed leader of such collective art endeavour, be it a dramatic production, musical performance, or children’s programme. His personal signature became prominent when he brought puppets to the TV studio, a full family of characters that opened new vistas of art on the screen.
What Monwar achieved in life is multifarious, as he was always searching for new art forms to move beyond conventional thinking. In that sense, he was unpredictable, speculative, as well as spectacular. As an artist who spent many sleepless nights in his studio surrounded by puppets, he represented a modern-day Geppetto with his Pinocchios. To follow the creative path of Monwar is an arduous task, which should be undertaken by researchers, art historians and social scientists. Here in this article, only a few outstanding events that shaped his life and art can be presented.
Monwar moved along various places of the undivided Bengal with his educationist father Golam Mostafa. He spent his school days in Kolkata, Barrackpore, Bankura, Narayanganj and Faridpur. In 1952, as a school student in Narayanganj, he took part in the language movement and got arrested. In later years, when the Bhasha Soiniks were honoured he never claimed any laurel for himself or boasted about his participation. This showed his indifference towards the worldly recognition that most of us hanker after.
At the height of the non-cooperation movement in March 1971, responding to the call of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Monwar and his colleagues put the PTV in Dhaka at the service of the struggling people. They could not be overtly political as the television centre functioned under the central government’s authority, with the place regarded as a high security zone and guarded by the Pakistan military. March 23, 1971, the Pakistan Day, became a point of contention between the two opposing politics of that time, with the Bangladeshi flag flying high on all the civilian houses and the Pakistani flag only on the cantonment and military posts. Monwar and his colleagues decided not to end the day’s programme on PTV with the Pakistani flag and national anthem. Instead, they extended the day’s programme till 12 midnight, only showing the flag officially on March 24. This was a tricky but risky way to defy the Pakistani dictum, even under the nozzle of the rifles. Although a symbolic resistance, it conveyed the message to the people in a unique way.
Immediately after the Pakistani Army started their genocidal attack on March 25, 1971, against Bangalees, Monwar, like millions of his fellow citizens, crossed the border to take shelter in Kolkata, India. He joined with other artists to assist the war effort of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh. As a person with great zeal to work, he assisted the Bangladesh Mukti Sangrami Shilpi Sangstha to present their performances in Kolkata, Delhi and elsewhere.
Monwar was perturbed by the huge influx of refugee children living a miserable life in the camps. To give the children and the refugee population some hope in their hopeless scenario, he developed a puppet show to entertain and inspire them. There were puppets of Yahya Khan, the brutal Pakistani dictator, and Bangalee resistance fighters. The short skits, accompanied by music, song and dialogue, brought smiles to the faces of the audience. In one of the puppet shows, the Pakistani military captain was threatening the rural youth to show where the “Mukti” or freedom fighters took shelter. They would immediately burn the house, where the fighters were hiding and kill the residents. One young man came forward and said, “I will show you where the FF’s are hiding. They have taken shelter in our heart.” He boldly proclaimed, pointing to his chest. Such was the beginning of Monwar’s puppeteering journey.
On his return, Monwar and his team refined the national television of the newly independent Bangladesh as a vehicle of national culture, reflecting its hopes and aspirations. There are many examples of his creative output we received through BTV. Gradually, Monwar moved to puppetry with his artistic expertise, knowledge and understanding. He created a galaxy of puppet characters, rooted deep in Bangalee tradition, who interacted with modern life which is a great achievement by itself. Moner Kotha ran on BTV for 12 years. Generations of children have fond memories of Parul, the eternal sister of Bengal, who brought new life to his seven brothers in Saat Bhai Champa. This is also a symbol of women’s empowerment as the girl in the Bangla folk tale is the saviour of the family and society. The story and characters of Monwar’s puppets call for deeper study. The puppets, their costumes, backdrop, storyline, music and presentation rose from indigenous cultural environs, rooted in local reality. Later on, Sesame Street, with financial support from the USAID, overshadowed the effort by Monwar. Although he and many of his disciples worked on the project too, it ultimately subdued the national culture of Monwar’s Moner Kotha.
Monwar remained a sole fighter for decolonisation of culture through his art of puppetry and all his work are glaring example of this struggle.
Mofidul Hoque is an author, researcher and publisher, and a trustee of the Liberation War Museum.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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