Coloured Hanky (An Adaptation of Othello)

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Authors

  • Prasanta Chakraborty Associate Professor (Retired) Department of Higher Education, Government of Tripura.
  • Sanjoy Kar Playwright

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56062/

Keywords:

Coloured Hanky, Shekespeare, Othello, Sanjay Kar, Baishnab Charan Addy

Abstract

Sanjay Kar used the historical backdrop of Imperial Tripura as the plot of his play when the Mughal emperor Suja wanted to defeat the existing king conspiring with Nakkshatra Roy, another claimant of the throne of Tripura. The existing king, Gobindo Manikya, had chosen a young, brave, and strong man from the fishermen’s community as his commander-in-chief. Thus, Atulchandra is the Tripura prototype of Othello the Moor. Both have a black complexion, and they come from lower-class families. Through the conversation of several other characters like Aghore, who is modelled after Iago, the ongoing hatred towards the lower class has been expressed. This has been clearly expressed in the conversation between Aghore and Rudranarayan.  But the King needs a brave heart like Atul, and so he gets his due from the king. However, he falls in love with Debaleena, a beautiful young woman from the royal family who is much younger than Atul. As a villain, Aghore planned to disrupt this relationship. He succeeds in implanting jealousy and distrust in Atul against Debleena, and Rangeen rumal (a coloured hanky) plays a crucial role in this misfortune of the duo. Atul gave this to Debleena as a gift from his mother, which he believed had some magical power. He advises Debleena to keep the hanky in her safe custody so that it is not lost. The cunning Aghore has this information and uses his wife, Daliya, to steal the hanky from Debleena. Ultimately, the frenzied Atul killed his wife out of jealousy and soon after, he killed himself knowing the truth from Daliya.

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Author Biographies

  • Prasanta Chakraborty, Associate Professor (Retired) Department of Higher Education, Government of Tripura.

    Dr. Prasanta Chakraborty (Translator) is a retired Associate Professor in the Department of Higher Education, Govt. of Tripura. After his retirement in October 2018, he worked in ICFAI, Tripura as a Professor and Principal of the FLA Department for a considerable period. Thereafter, he joined Holycross College, Agartala as a visiting professor. He is currently working as a guest faculty in the Department of English, at MBB University.  He has published 33 articles in reputed national and international journals. He has also contributed eight chapters in books.  He also edited ten books and wrote a book of his own on two Indian and African authors. Two more books meant for the UG students of Tripura University were co-edited by him.

  • Sanjoy Kar, Playwright

    Sanjoy Kar, who has had a passion for theatre since childhood, has been mentored by prominent theatre figures from his state. In 1980, he established Cultural Campaign, where he began directing plays such as Dynoserous, Chitabhasma, Bibasana Brihannala, Sada Payrar Janya, Debona Titun, Prasanga Haradhanu, and Rakta Karobi, among others. Debona Titun is regarded as a landmark in the modern theatre movement in Tripura, having been staged in approximately 50 performances across the country.

    In 1993, he founded ‘Natyabhumi’ in Agartala and directed about 25 out of the 30 productions staged so far. Among these are Arohan, Sonar Harin, Kalbela, Pretochhaya (adaptation of Ibsen’s Ghost ), Manasha Katha, Streer Patro, Moneybag, Ek Ananter Khoj, Ami Madhabi, Raima Saima, and Ranggen Rumal (adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello), etc.

    In 1989, Sri Kar attended Theatre Days with Peter Brook in Kolkata during a workshop. He also participated in a workshop led by Christine Schlamor from Germany, organized by I.T.I. in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2006. Additionally, Sri Kar provides training in theatre and recitation to children and youth. Several of his students have received National Talent Search Scholarships and Young Artist Scholarships in theatre.

    Sanjoy Kar participated in several national and international theatre festivals in the country and abroad. He staged his plays in different cities across the country, as well as in Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kathmandu (Nepal). He also participated in many national and regional theatre festivals organized by SNA, NSD, EZCC, NCZCC, and others. His play Raima Saima, which he wrote and directed, was staged at the 8th Theatre Olympic in New Delhi, considered one of the most prestigious theatre events in the world. He played the role of hero in the Bengali feature film “Nongar” and acted in several telefilms and short films.

    In 2006, he received the People’s Choice Award from NE TV as the Popular Theatre Director of North-East India. In 2008, he won the Best Playwright Award in the National Science Drama Competition in New Delhi. He received the Compass Samman Award in 2019 from Compass, Coachbihar, W.B., and the Tripura Gourav Samman in 2022, conferred by Indo-Bangla Moitri Mancha. Additionally, he is the recipient of the Barnana Samman, awarded by Barnana Natya Gosthi, Coachbihar, W.B., in 2023.   

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Published

2025-05-25

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 5 (2025): May, Creative Saplings

Section

Drama

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Sanjoy Kar. “Coloured Hanky (An Adaptation of Othello)”. Creative Saplings, translated byPrasanta Chakraborty, vol. 4, no. 5, May 2025, pp. 1-41, https://doi.org/10.56062/.

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