Talking about the play, Nilu says, 'Like other Ibsen's plays, Brand has a universal touch. Henrik Ibsen has dealt with fundamentalism in Christianity in this play. I will not edit or adapt the play; rather I will only use the translated version of Brand, Manzur-e-Moula. It will be a six-hour play and be staged in two parts on two consecutive days.'

Nilu is hopeful that Manzur-e-Moula will be a new type of production from the Bangladeshi perspective. 'I am taking the risk to stage two parts of a play on two consecutive days. We never go after box-office hit productions. CAT always stages classics all over the world,' Nilu says.

On the genesis of CAT, Nilu says, 'I got the idea when I was studying drama in the National School for Drama (NSD), India. I was held up for funds to start a professional theatre group in Bangladesh. During that transitional period I joined Chittagong University as a drama teacher in the Department of Fine Arts as well as appeared on the screen for BTV plays.

Later, in 1994 I got a fund from the Norwegian Embassy to fulfil my desire. In 1996, I established CAT. To run the 36-member professional theatre group, we need Taka 30 lakhs per year, as we pay our activists monthly and the salary range is Taka 3,000 to Taka 20,000. CAT has its own theatre hall and required technical hands. In fact, CAT is a model for professional theatre practice in Bangladesh. We collect money by taking part in the mainstream theatre festivals all over the world. For each show in the festivals we get US $ 5,000. We sell recorded CDs and our publications during the festivals. Grameen Phone is our sponsor. Moreover, Royal Norwegian Embassy extends patronage to us.'

Recently CAT has started another venture--Theatre for Children project--jointly with the Canadian Embassy. 'In 2005 we will divide CAT into two branches--urban and rural. I am planning to establish the rural branch where I aim to establish a "drama village" featuring selected traditional Jatra artistes,' informs Nilu. 'I really enjoy the indigenous art form and the Jatra artistes have got immense potential. I will try to give the art form a polished shape. I believe that all the classics of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and others can be adapted well in Jatra. In that Jatra village we will establish a school for the children of the Jatra artistes who will learn the medium from the childhood,' Nilu adds.

Kamaluddin Nilu thinks that theatre groups in Bangladesh should strive for professionalism. To quote him, 'The approach to traditional theatre practice in Bangladesh is not the right one. Theatre leaders usually do not go to watch one another's works. Moreover, they do not exchange ideas with one another, which is very important for the advancement of any art form. By and large, the theatre activists in Bangladesh are involved with other professions. Theatre in Bangladesh has become a kind of club culture. They are paying more attention to their personal interest rather than creative work. And in maximum cases they have not created any suitable successors. That is why a huge vacuum has been created within every big group. Moreover, the renowned artistes are now very much involved with electronic media rather than theatre, that is why almost every theatrical group is suffering. This can never be a healthy scenario for the theatre of any country.

Another major problem in our theatre is the lack of young stage dramatists. Very few of those who write stage plays have any idea about the medium. May be their plays have got very good messages, however, theatre is not literature. Expression is very important in theatre or any performing art forms. Say for example, Bangla films often deliver powerful messages. However, due to lack of expression the message remains suppressed and the films appear to be mediocre. And the maximum translators have got the same problem. In the case of the translation, they just emphasise on the craftsmanship. That is thousands of available translated plays cannot be staged as the translators are not acquainted with the performing space,' Nilu adds.

In the year to come, CAT is set to take part in two international drama festivals. The group will stage The Mission in the NSD festival in India in January 2005 and later they will stage their new production which has not yet been selected for the Berlin drama festival in Germany in May 2005. After the production of Brand, Nilu will direct Kafka's Metamorphosis, which will be his last stage work. And then onwards Nilu will dedicate his talent for the development of the indigenous art form of Jatra. He hopes that through his efforts, Jatra will have a definite place in the world drama.