A scene from Jhalagan Palagan
A scene from Jhalagan Palagan

Jhalagan Palagan by Pradipta Bhattacharya retraces Bengal's impromptu rhyme contest history

Digital platform Uribaba along with screenwriter Pradipta Bhattacharya is bringing together Jhalagan Palagan- A Grand Tarja Pala

Kobigaan, Tarja Gaan, and Half Akhrai fall amongst the numerous folk traditions that are at risk of extinction today. In an attempt to revive the rapidly dilapidating oral history of rural Bengal, the crew of comedy-drama series Birohi has come together, this time with Jhalagan Palagan. The trailer of the five-part web series was released on Thursday. The series will be presented in the form of a costume drama and will trace evergreen topics such as the Bangal- Ghoti conflict and the undying competitiveness between football clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

Sayan Ghosh in Jhalagan Palagan
Sayan Ghosh in Jhalagan Palagan

"I have always wished to recreate the timeless arguments that Bengali people love to indulge in. National award-winning actor Ritwik Chakraborty and I have recently formed a production house named 180 Degree and we chose the traditional genre of Palagaan, to address these topics. The pandemic has paved the way for digital platforms to flourish. Hence, this was the right time to experiment on a web platform,” expresses creator Pradipta Bhattacharya. 

Palagaan is a dramatic performative tradition from the rural parts of Bengal which was originally sung to worship the cult goddess Bonbibi. The performances involve recitation and musical verses that are accompanied by mimetic gestures.

Shot in Tehatta, Nadia this series will mostly draw upon the form of ‘Kobir Lorai’- a similar performative folk genre where two people, namely the composer answer each other through spontaneous songs. The web series will also provide space for other genres such as rap, hard rock, Kirtan, Adhunik Gaan, and Hindi songs. 

Poster of Jhalagan Palagan
Poster of Jhalagan Palagan

"Jhalagan Palagan will surely bring freshness to Bengali digital content as the heritage musical genres have seldom been explored over the digital space before," says Sourav Chakraborty, Founder, and Director of Uribaba.

Jhalagan Palagan will include debates between the Rural and the Urban, on the superiority between yesteryear actors Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, Government Jobs and Private Jobs, East Bengal- Mohun Bagan & Men-Women. Each episode will have a Bhumika (The introduction), Tarja (The proposal of one’s own topic), Kheur (Ridiculing the opponent), and finally the Siddhanto (Resolution).

Scene portraying a classic East Bengal- Mohun Bagan banter
Scene portraying a classic East Bengal- Mohun Bagan banter

Conceptualised by Pradipta Bhattacharya, the quirky series will stream on Uribaba, January 9 onwards and feature Sayan Ghosh of Tumpa fame and Biswabasu Biswas aka Bhupal of Karunamoyee Rani Rashmoni amongst others.

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