Responses

Ranan has done marvellous work in the last four years breaking new ground constantly –
changing, improving, discovering and reacting to audiences and their own impulses. There is
a fierce need to experiment and have a long-range target in view. Ranan – from their solos to
duets to drama and dance-theatre work – is on a totally new path which sees them improve on
even their own experiments.
- late Habib Tanvir, veteran theatre director, Bhopal

They are the privileged few whose talent surpasses their numerical strength. All in their early
30s, they embody what others aspire to. They’re members of Ranan whose ideas,
imagination, attitude and action sway perception with the power of creativity hardly seen in
artists of their generation.
- Nita Vidyarthi, ‘The Statesman’, Kolkata, April 2006

I think Ranan is a very significant development in this city. They have a commitment which
is long-term, a commitment which makes them really struggle to produce the kind of work
they want to do. It is a struggle that has a lot of passion behind it – and that is evident in the
kind of work that Ranan has produced.
- Sujata Sen, Director, British Council, Kolkata

More than any other performance group I know, Ranan engages its audience to explore all
sorts of interesting facets of art. And it goes right out of the box in all its productions
- Katy Lai Roy, Theatre designer and director, The Red Curtain, Calcutta

The most valuable thing about Ranan’s work is that you are exploring between different
disciplines, different genres and experimenting laterally across the arts. Every piece has
moved from a point of a given conventional technique and moved outwards. That’s a very
interesting way to go because you’re teaching the audience to think differently. You’re
stretching barriers and pulling in different kinds of audience into one space.
- Anjum Katyal, Arts Writer and Editor of Sa Re Ga Ma Mag-e-zine
 Responses
In the work of Ranan, there is this that I value immensely – and that is the intellect. The job
of a classical performer today has become a far more challenging one, because a lot of people
are no longer ready to accept the clichés. It’s so tiring! But you are trying to ferret out
different things. It prompts people to think a little differently. That is a very important thing.
- Kathakali Jana, Arts Journalist, Kolkata

People often ask me, what is modern dance in India? Ranan is one of the unique ways of
modernising and using a traditional art form making it contemporary, lively and fresh. Ranan
uses a mixed media, a variety of approaches instead of that kind of fusion which is a
superimposition of forms. They address the universality of issues through a different lens,
showing equal respect to all the different forms which are brought in.
- Dr. Reimar Volker, Director, Goethe Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan, Kolkata

Prithvi Theatre survives off partnerships - of different kinds, forms and sizes! What do we
look for in local partners? A group or individual whose work and interest lie beyond their
immediate work in theatre i.e. a performing group who regularly programmes or facilitates
other engagements that are developmental in nature. Prithvi has partnered with Ranan, and
found in this young dedicated group a vision for the future which is inspiring.
- Sanjna Kapoor, Director, Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai

The breadth of activities organised and hosted by Ranan taking place in Kolkata have
reinforced and extended our existing artistic collaborations. It is therefore a mutual desire to
continue the creative exchange between ELAN Wales and Ranan in their vital role as
nurturers of new generations of performers and as active players in the theory and practice of
the performing arts.
- Firenza Guidi, Director, ELAN Wales, Cardiff