Palace with a royal ghost
DIWAN SINGH BAJELI
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Using a dilapidated palace as a metaphor, "Ballavpurer Rupkatha" comments on the crumbling feudal system.
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SOME MYSTERY: A scene from the play "Ballavpurer Rupkatha".
Badal Sircar's "Ballabhpur Ki Roopkatha" is popular among Hindi theatregoers. The audience loves its engaging storyline, humour and the element of mystery. Most of the directors try to highlight its comic element. The original play titled "Ballavpurer Rupkatha", which was presented by Milani Cultural and Welfare Association this past week at LTG auditorium, aims at bringing to the fore the mystery about a dilapidated palace, transforming it into a metaphor for the crumbling feudal system giving way to a new social order.
Amar Mudi, who started his artistic journey from Jatra, has directed the play. Later, he was involved in theatrical activities in Midnapore, Kolkata. Since the inception in 1991, he has acted and directed several significant contemporary Bengali plays, including "Sajano Bagan" by Manoj Mitra for the group based in Mayur Vihar. As director he tries to give his own interpretation to the well-known dramatic pieces.
The pivotal point in "Ballavepurer Rupkatha" is the 400-year-old palace that now stands as an antique piece and its sole owner, the last surviving scion of the royal family who once lived in the palace. The scion, Bhupati, is in heavy debt and wants to get rid of this accursed palace and start a dental clinic in Kolkata in collaboration with his classmate. Now his future and the repayment of his debt depends on the sale of the palace but it is fraught with complications. His problem is that the palace is situated in a remote village and on top of it a royal ghost appears in the night.
Obsessive desire
Fortunately, a rich man from Kolkata, with an obsessive desire to purchase old palaces, comes to Bhupati's palace with his family. Bhupati tries hard to hide the fact about the ghost but when the truth becomes known to the rich man, he is even more eager to buy the antique piece and is ready to pay double the amount.
For the rich man and Bhupati things turn out to be more complicated with the arrival of another rich man from Kolkata, who is an arch rival of the first customer.
While the offstage music and sounds help to create the right atmosphere the use of pink colour on the walls of the sets seems incongruous. The palace is in a dilapidated condition and there is not much life in it. However, the climactic scene is enacted with dramatic force, using imaginative lighting. Though the comic element is underplayed, there are some light moments here and there. The opening scene where a false impression is created with borrowed articles and dinner to show the pomp surrounding royalty is amusing.
The entry of Bhupati's friend whose identity is mistaken for the rich buyer evokes laughter. The production gains in effectiveness whenever the royal ghost appears in royal regalia.
Ranadip Mukherjee as Bhupati acts admirably, revealing the desperation of a royal personage and hiding his miserable economic condition. B.N. Majumdar as Haldar, the rich man from Kolkata, and Sharmistha Saha as the domineering wife of Haldar give impressive performances. Anindita Kargupta's Chanda, the daughter of the Haldars, loves poetry and lives in a romantic world.
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