Some drama, some laughter
ROMESH CHANDER
|
"Urgent Meeting" that was staged this past week was a truly hilarious play and "Bhajno" lost nothing in comparison.
|
GOOD THEATRE: Scene from `Bhajano'
C.D. Sidhu is a prolific writer. To date he has written 33 original plays (20 in Punjabi, eight in Hindi and five in Urdu) that have all been staged and published. Perhaps no other playwright in India today has so many full-length original plays to his credit all of which have been staged.
Dr. Sidhu hit the headlines with "Bhajno" that opened at Sri Ram Centre in 1978 presented by Collegiate Drama Society and directed by the playwright himself.
The play became a symbol of the new emerging woman in rural Punjab. The play was once again on the boards recently but this time in its Hindi translation by the playwright himself but directed by Ravi Taneja, yet another thespian in the Sidhu family.
Ravi Taneja's overall production design by and large remains the same as that of Dr. Sidhu's earlier production in Punjabi. But what is remarkable Ravi in his Hindi presentation has been able to draw through non-Punjabi speaking actors an authentic pattern of speech and mannerisms common in the Doaba region of Punjab comprising Hoshiarpur, Jallandhar and Kapurthala districts.
A no mean achievement of the director and the cast particularly Pooja Tiwari from U.P., playing as Bhajno, Pooro (Chetna Chowdhry from Haryana) and among the men Ankur Jain as Kartara, Satish Bhalla as Karam Singh and Jitender Belwal from Rajasthan playing as Terseem Singh - all playing the characters to the hit.
It was indeed a delight to watch Pooja break her sentences in the opening scene and sustain her manner of speech throughout the play. The way she handles the schoolmaster who has seduced her daughter is yet another high point of her performance.
The scene between her and Kartara when she gets him to transfer his land in her son's name is yet another subtle way used by the playwright to underline Bhajno's character.
GOOD THEATRE: Scene from `Urgent Meeting'
"Urgent Meeting"
There was yet another very interesting play at India Habitat Centre, a hilarious satire by Jayavardhana's "Urgent Meeting" directed by J.P. Singh and presented by Rang Bhoomi.
This critic had seen the play when it was on the boards in April this year. The premier was raw and terribly under-rehearsed, But "since then, the presentation has undergone a `kayapalat', a complete change", said the director while inviting this critic to the play.
Yes it has. The presentation as it stands today is one of the best satirical comedies on the Hindi stage in Delhi.
One cannot tell the storyline in detail for that would cut into the surprise element and take away half the fun.
Suffice it to say the play is hilarious and to a great extent a true reflection of the world of theatre and behind the scene manoeuvres in Delhi's theatre world, call it theatre culture if you like where everybody is trying to pull each others leg and indulge in horse trading.
The writer hits out strongly against government's policy of dispensing favours.
The playwright also hits out at some of the new trends in theatre like "Kahani Ka Rang Manch", a new genre that filled a gap in the early days but is now being produced by many to win favour with the fund dispersing authorities. The playwright hits out strongly against the functioning of the so-called consultative committees for cultural affairs.
In fact the locale throughout is the meeting of a committee to recommend a play to be sent to Japan for an International Festival. Most of the time the committee is talking about things other than the agenda and finally there is a letter from the minister asking for the committee's endorsement to his proposal for sending a play by one of his relatives. To know what happened to the proposal one should see the play.
The cast as a whole plays well with excellent timing and amongst those who stand out are Arun Kumar playing as Deputy Director, Jaya Mukesh Shukla, J.P. Singh and Chitra Singh and Sita Ram Singh playing as members of the committee. The script by Jayavardhan who in the past has given us some good plays, is one of the best satirical comedies on the Hindi stage.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
