An eye for an eye
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PLAY `Ammoru' shows how superstition can be countered with some presence of mind.
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Social theme The play centred on superstition.
We've heard that truth is stranger than fiction and the play Ammoru, staged at Thyagaraya Gana Sabha last Friday under the aegis of Rasaranjani, proves it again. The play was produced by a team from BDL, known for its social theatre. This play, written by Nageswara Rao, a lawyer by profession, was inspired by a news clipping that showed how deep rooted superstitions are.
The play is a drama, woven around the selfish landlord Pedda Kaapu, who owns 40 acres of land and uses the village tank to draw water for his fields. To gain the confidence of people, he uses the services of a woman called Gangamma (A.K. Sridevi). Gangamma pretends to be a soothsayer, making the villagers believe that Goddess Ammoru possessed her. And she tells villagers what the landlord asks her to convey.
Gangamma, pretending to be possessed by the Goddess, tries to convince villagers that the Goddess wants the pipes laid earlier by an engineer to supply water to the village and other villages around, to be closed. The engineer (B. Rajasekhar) and a cop (A. Ravikumar), cry foul, and bring a science student (Mounika). They make the student pretend that she too has been possessed by the Goddess. People believe her words that Pedda Kaapu is a rogue and they will be saved only if they chop his leg.
The cast comprised BDL employees barring the two roles of women given to professional actors. Performances by Y.L.N. Rao as the Pedda Kaapu, Rajasekhar as engineer Ravi Kumar as police officer, Sridevi as Gangamma and Maunika as her counter part were laudable. Chakrapani lent musical support in Telangana folk idiom. It was not an easy task for a director to handle more than two dozen artistes on stage at one time. Ch. Lakshmanaswamy managed it well. The dances were in folk style and choreographed by Rishiraj.
G. S
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