A peep into rural society
ROMESH CHANDER
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Harishikesh Saulabh's "Batohi" presented by NSD Repertory Company deals with the plight of women in rural India.
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Photo: V. Sudershan.
RE-PLAY Devendra Raj Ankur, Director National School of Drama reproduced Harishikesh Saulabh's "Batohi.
Harishikesh Saulabh's "Batohi" (Wonderer) as directed by Devendra Raj Ankur for NSD Repertory Company holds our attention as long as it lasts but by the time we reach home it is out of our mind primarily because the script as it stands lacks depth and its structure is jerky and what is more the cast as a whole is rather weak.
The playwright in his note says, the play is neither autobiographical nor based on Bikhari Thakur's life. He goes on to say, "the play attempts to lead us through manifold layers of India's rural society, giving an insight to their plight and philosophy of life." The play as it stands underlines more the status of women in rural India and their untold misery and while making his point he introduces Kamala Babuni and quite a few incidents around her to underline the sufferings of rural women and their determination to fight back It is basically the playwright's emphasis on atrocities against women particularly in rural India. One has no objection to that but he could also have underlined more strongly Bhikhari's fight against British, both in action and in his writings.
Weak performance
Performance by the cast as a whole is weak and what is more if the characterisation was unconvincing it was more because of the way the lines were written surely the director could have helped by editing or even reconstructing the action. Then again action on the stage, by and large, was clichéd and often without motivation.
But what saved the play to an extent and made it pleasant as long as it lasted was Sanjay Upadhyaya's music.
Surely one expects a far more polished presentation by a Repertory Company like that of NSD.
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