"Spoken words limit my audience," said celebrated puppeteer Sudip Gupta.
For the man whose no dialogue puppet theatres have enthralled audience worldwide, words are dispensable, when it comes to telling stories.
"Images speak a universal language. Using dialogues is like restricting it to one particular language. Puppets, lights and sound is all that I need to tell my stories," Sudip, who founded Kolkata's Doll Theatre group, told PTI.
The artiste was recently in town for his show 'Taming of the Wild' - a story showcasing man's relationship with nature.
A proponent of contemporary puppetry in India, Sudip performed string puppetry including some elements of Bunraku -- the Japanese form of three-person puppetry -- in his four story act.
From enacting episodes of a fish's successful attempt to save itself from an angler to a greedy man's unavailing efforts to cut down a plant, Sudip's non-verbal composition was enveloped in humour.
However, it was the majestic couple dance of blue and yellow cranes that stole the show.
"For this act we have made use of Bunraku puppetry. Though it is not exactly the same as the original form, but we have indigenised it to suit our ensemble," the puppeteer said.
A known face at International puppet festivals, Sudip has performed in over 28 countries.
According to the artiste, puppetry is one of the best forms of art to spread any message, and thus required, "dedicated institutes" to teach the art form in India.
"Things can improve in puppetry in India. All we need are more institutes for puppetry, and spread the word about this art.
"India is acknowledged as the birth place of puppetry. Recently, I was told that Bombay University has started a diploma course for puppetry. This is a good step, but more such initiatives are required across the country," he said.
A man of many talents, Sudip not only writes his own scripts, but is also the brain behind the designs, costumes, choreography, props, music and lights.
Through his productions, the puppeteer has raised his voice over several modern issues, but it was environment and wildlife that form the subject of most of his productions.
Some of his famous works includes 'Call of the Wild', 'Movement in Wilderness', 'A Wild Tale', 'Padmagatha', 'Nak Kata Raja' and 'Shatranj ke Khiladi' among many others.
Married to fellow puppeteer Shreeparna Bhanja, the couple has a 12-year-old son Souparna, who too has been bitten by the puppetry bug.
"In India, for some reason people do not see puppetry as an art form at par with others. People think it is something limited to birthday parties, and performed just to entertain children.
"Their understanding of the magnificent art is limited. We have dedicated ourselves to bring it to more and more people. My child finds it extremely interesting, and I am happy with his progress," Shreeparna said.
The junior-most member of Doll theatre group, Souparno, was awarded the youngest puppeteer title in Bangkok's World Puppet Carnival when he was six.
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