PUNE: Professors of several departments in Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) who met on Monday strongly objected to Saturday’s arrest of five students and head of the department of Lalit Kala Kendra, and defended their play as educational.
They said that the department had approved the script long before it was screened on Thursday in front of theatre and cinema experts for their opinions.
Lectures in the department have remained suspended since Saturday following a protest and vandalism over the experimental play.
The professors said an opinion was made based on the first three minutes of the recording instead of watching the entire play because it was also about what actors should not do. They termed the arrest and release of the HoD and the students as an attack on the autonomy of the university and its teaching-learning process. Deepak Garud, a professor at Lalit Kala Kendra, said it was part of the students’ first-year exam and the script was approved before the performance in front of the audience and screening.
“The experts had no objection to it. The story was based on a drama within a drama and the set was designed such that one side showed the stage and the other side showed the make-up room of the actors. When they are in the make-up room, they are not characters, they are actors chatting freely. The play was about what actors should not do in life and not at all objectionable. The students showed what they see the actors do in society once their act is over. People should have seen the whole drama,” Garud added.
Chaitanya Kunte, another professor from the department of performing arts at SPPU, said the exam pattern where students write the script and perform the play has existed for years.
“What students and a teacher do in their own academic space is for the teacher or the university to investigate or judge. Outsiders need not get involved. Violence should not be the way for anything. This is experimental art. It has to be performed in front of an audience. This is a part of our teaching-learning process,” he said.
Mahesh Deokar, a professor from the department of Pali and Buddhist studies, said that Maharashtra has screened controversial plays like Vastraharan. “Opinions can differ, but violence cannot be the answer,” he added.
Mihir Arjunwadkar, professor at the department of scientific computing, modelling and simulation, said students have performed controversial plays before too but nobody has objected to it as they know that it is an experimental play.
“If the other students had objections, they could have waited for it to end and then discussed it with the actors. These are young kids, merely 18 to 20-year-olds,” Arjun- wadkar added.
A group of students affiliated with ABVP had arrived at the amphitheatre on Friday evening and objected to the play, arguing that it contained objectionable dialogues and scenes. The play was stalled after a clash broke out between the students of Lalit Kala Kendra and ABVP leading to the arrests. The arrested professor and the students, also charged with rioting after the clash, were granted bail by a Pune court on Saturday evening.
They said that the department had approved the script long before it was screened on Thursday in front of theatre and cinema experts for their opinions.
Lectures in the department have remained suspended since Saturday following a protest and vandalism over the experimental play.
The professors said an opinion was made based on the first three minutes of the recording instead of watching the entire play because it was also about what actors should not do. They termed the arrest and release of the HoD and the students as an attack on the autonomy of the university and its teaching-learning process. Deepak Garud, a professor at Lalit Kala Kendra, said it was part of the students’ first-year exam and the script was approved before the performance in front of the audience and screening.
“The experts had no objection to it. The story was based on a drama within a drama and the set was designed such that one side showed the stage and the other side showed the make-up room of the actors. When they are in the make-up room, they are not characters, they are actors chatting freely. The play was about what actors should not do in life and not at all objectionable. The students showed what they see the actors do in society once their act is over. People should have seen the whole drama,” Garud added.
Chaitanya Kunte, another professor from the department of performing arts at SPPU, said the exam pattern where students write the script and perform the play has existed for years.
“What students and a teacher do in their own academic space is for the teacher or the university to investigate or judge. Outsiders need not get involved. Violence should not be the way for anything. This is experimental art. It has to be performed in front of an audience. This is a part of our teaching-learning process,” he said.
Mahesh Deokar, a professor from the department of Pali and Buddhist studies, said that Maharashtra has screened controversial plays like Vastraharan. “Opinions can differ, but violence cannot be the answer,” he added.
Mihir Arjunwadkar, professor at the department of scientific computing, modelling and simulation, said students have performed controversial plays before too but nobody has objected to it as they know that it is an experimental play.
“If the other students had objections, they could have waited for it to end and then discussed it with the actors. These are young kids, merely 18 to 20-year-olds,” Arjun- wadkar added.
A group of students affiliated with ABVP had arrived at the amphitheatre on Friday evening and objected to the play, arguing that it contained objectionable dialogues and scenes. The play was stalled after a clash broke out between the students of Lalit Kala Kendra and ABVP leading to the arrests. The arrested professor and the students, also charged with rioting after the clash, were granted bail by a Pune court on Saturday evening.
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