Mamata Banerjee corrects 141-year-old injustice, honours 19th century theatre personality Noti Binodini

The move is to honour Bengal’s pioneering female theatre artist Binodini Dasi, a.k.a. Noti Binodini, who started acting in 1874 at the age of 12 but exited the stage by the time she was in her mid-20s.

Kolkata: A 141-year-old injustice is set to get corrected in Kolkata in the New Year.

The Star Theatre, which came up in the city towards the end of the 19^th century, will be renamed as Binodini Theatre soon, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday.

The move is to honour Bengal’s pioneering female theatre artist Binodini Dasi, a.k.a. Noti Binodini, who started acting in 1874 at the age of 12, soon reached the pinnacle of her career, but exited the stage by the time she was in her mid-20s.

 “I have already told the Mayor of Kolkata that we would change the name of the Star Theatre to Binodini Theatre as a mark of respect to women,” Banerjee said at an event in Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

Noti Binodini was born into a poor family and grew up in a red-light area of colonial-era Kolkata. She debuted on stage under the mentorship of legendary theatre personality Girish Chandra Ghosh, who had set up the Great National Theatre in 1873. When Ghosh and his colleagues decided to launch a new theatre in 1883, they asked Binodini, who was by then a very popular actress, to help raise funds for it.

Gurmukh Rai, a wealthy businessman of the city, agreed to invest in the new theatre, on the condition that Noti Binodini should be his mistress. The actress agreed and Ghosh and others promised her that the new theatre would be named after her in recognition of her sacrifice. They, however, did not keep their promise and named it Star Theatre, fearing that the elites of the city would not like to come to the theatre if it was named after an actress who had grown up in red-light areas and agreed to be a mistress of the businessman.

Binodini later wrote in her memoir that she was disappointed by the betrayal of the Star Theatre’s leadership.

The Trinamool Congress government is now set to correct the injustice that the misogynistic society subjected her to.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation had an emergency meeting soon after the announcement by the chief minister and started the process of renaming the Star Theatre.

The original Star Theatre was razed in the early 20^th century. But people continued to relate the Star Theatre, which came up in 1888, with Noti Binodini, due to her early association with the group. It is the Star Theatre, built in 1888, that would be renamed as Binodini Theatre.