Clash of titans
|
NATWA's "Aurangzeb" brings history alive.
|
"Aurangzeb" is life on an epic scale. Family feuds have national ramifications. Dreams can lead to deaths and destructions. NATWA recently brought Tamil playwright Indira Parthasarthy's "Aurangzeb" to Sri Ram Centre. A teacher in NSD K.S. Rajendran directed the play. A taut and well-strung play, it brought alive the people behind the persona. Mahendra Mewati playing Aurangzeb expertly expressed the conflict between ambitions and loyalty. Shahajahan, played by Sanjay Gautam, is the narcissist king who at his peak built the Taj Mahal and in his old age aspires to see a black marble mahal. Made redundant by age he still believes he is king. His dreams are his strength, he asks, if you take away a man's dreams, then what will be the difference between man and animal?
The play illuminates the religious and ideological conflicts between the two brothers Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb. Dara believes god lives in all of us. Aurangzeb sees him as an enemy of Islam and the state.
Divided loyalties
The tragedy, as the play shows, is that by the end, the main protagonists are ruins. Aurangzeb is alone with his power, Shahjahan is alone with his powerlessness. The two sisters Jahanara and Roshanara played by Manleen Kaur and Laxmi Rawat, respectively, ably portrayed their divided loyalties. Jahanara, supports Dara with restrained dignity. She tends to her father, but in a touching moment, reveals that she grudges him for his infatuation with his wife and for the divide between the siblings. Roshanara supports Aurangzeb with a grander exuberance. Full of passion, she plays his counsel and help. While being realistic, the acting at times does become stagy. The music is occasionally becomes melodramatic. The script throbs and ripples with vigour. Most of the main actors are from NSD .
NANDINI NAIR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
