Kolkata: Nata Mullick, a hangman with 25 cases to his credit, including a rape and murder convict two years ago, has been roped in by a theatre group for his talent in histrionics.
"Enough of hanging. I have other abilities too, which I could not put to use earlier," Mullick, who last hanged guard Dhananjoy Chatterjee two years ago for raping and killing a girl, says.
"I have come to bring a smile on people's lips," Mullick adds.
Not new to acting, Mullick acted as a hangman in Mrinal Sen's film Mrigaya way back in the 70s.
The play, Desher shatru neta, Baper shatru beta (Politician, the nations’ enemy, son, a father’s enemy), is a Bengali folk drama which is already being staged in rural areas with shows registering large turnouts since October.
Mullick enacts the role of an idealistic music teacher who tutors his pupils for free but fails to countenance his drug peddler son, whom he kills towards the end of the show, says Haradhan Roy, director of the play and an official of Mangaldip Opera, staging the jatra (folk theatre).
"Mullick is not evoking sorrow in people's minds, but smiles. People will empathise with his character. We think his creativity has not been utilised so far," Roy says.
Mullick has sung five songs, all raga-based, in the production.
Speaking about the circumstances behind Mullick's induction in the production, Roy says they had been planning to rope him in since the hanging of Dhananjoy on August 14, 2004.
They, however, had to go slow as the administration had advised them not to star Mullick since the hanging had evoked much passion at that point in time, particularly in the convict's native district, Bankura.
"After the issue cooled down the government gave the go ahead last year. Mullick is definitely our star performer now," Roy says.
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