The method in madness
A scene from "Bhanwar".
SOMETIMES MESSAGE doesn't need a polished vehicle to hit you, sometimes raw talent appeals more than cultivated art. This describes the evening when some young students from Aligarh Muslim University's Drama Club performed at New Delhi's India Habitat Centre.
Striking a chord with the mature audience with their youthful ebullience, the students presented the cesspool of Indian polity in a satirical tone. Titled "Bhanwar", the play comments on the insanities afflicting some minds in free India through the wit of lunatics in a mental asylum. The communal divide that has torn apart our social fabric, the Godhra incident and its aftermath and the brazen politicians, all find a mention in a humorous overtone. What connects you with "Bhanwar" is the syntax; the sweet Hindustani that strikes you unnoticed, stirs you without announcing its arrival and teaches you without sermonising.
Easy symbols
"I don't believe in too much symbolism because somewhere down the line it portrays the limitation of the writer. It is similar to a painter taking support of modern art to express his emotion. I believe today theatre has to be as communicative as cinema. I used easy symbols so that the majority of audience could understand the import," says F.S. Sheerani, the writer and director of the play. So the drawstring of pyjamas becomes the chain of Sabarmati Express which if pulled could expose the shame to the nation, the kidneys substitute for mind because after all it is the place from where all the rot is filtered - the mad comments hit you on the right spot.
"I wrote the play in 1984 but I keep on adding characters so that the play remains contemporary. Here, I added the grandmother of a pregnant woman who was criminally assaulted and killed during Gujarat riots. Also, as my protagonists are insane, it helps me in fiddling with the language. In the background, we have shown few inmates sitting muted. They could be made active in future as the victims of the Naxalite movement or the North-East agitation."
Sheerani attributes the loudness of characters at times to the inexperience of students. "They are amateur actors who attend classes in the day and practise in the evening. Also at times, they get excited with the severity of the character and subject."
Mohammed Johaed, a member of the cast says, "We are used to performing to a large audience in our campus with students either rooting for us or criticising. It was difficult to adjust to the calm environs of Habitat Centre."
Johaed adds it is a misconception that they do only radical plays. "We do all kind of plays from romantic to comedy. It is just that their sets happen to be big and our financial limitations don't allow us to bring them to Delhi."
Arif Rizvi, Coordinator, General Education Centre, AMU, who conceptualised the trip says, "From Khwaja Ahmad Abbas to Naseeruddin Shah, Aligarh Muslim University has given many a pearl to art and culture. Of late, there has been a downswing. By organising such trips, we want to reassert our position in the national reckoning."
ANUJ KUMAR
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