Rajneesh Gupta’s play Shah Shahni enlivens the tragedy of Partition

A scene from play ‘Shah-Shahni’ staged by Bhartiya Kala Sangam at Drama Festival in Jammu on Sunday.
A scene from play ‘Shah-Shahni’ staged by Bhartiya Kala Sangam at Drama Festival in Jammu on Sunday.

Lalit Gupta
JAMMU, Nov 18: Rajneesh Gupta’s play Shah Shahni performed on day-6 of the ongoing annual drama festival 2018, enlivened the tragedy of Partition which divided almost everything and left psychological and physical scars that wreaked emotional havoc on generations on both sides of the borders.
Directed by Neha Lahotra and presented by Bhartiya Kala Sangam, today’s play which artistically chronicles the Indo-Pak partition from the local point of view, revolved around two child-hood lovers of Jammu: the Muslim boy, Shah, and a Hindu girl, Shahani, who get separated when Shah’s family moves to Pakistan.
With the opening of Karvan-e-Aman bus service, Shah, now an old man comes to visit his native city Jammu and accidentally meets Shahni who takes him to her home. They tell each other about respective families and children. Both reminiscences about childhood days full of fun and frolic and the strong bond of attraction between innocent lovers comes to fore. In course of play, it is revealed that both had told lies to each other and none of them had married due to intense feeling for each other. The play ends with a sad note, when lovers who meet after more than sixty years, are destined to get separated once again.
Today’s reasonably well acted and well-paced production was marked by a rich performance by Neha Lahotra as Shahni. She successfully maintained the stylized accent and mannerism with control on tone, gestures and body movements. Mohit Sharma as Shah was equally impressive as a sedate old man who had kept the flame of love simmering all along. Sahil Sharma as Gara Halwai also gave a good performance. Other actors were Nitika Ketan Gupta and Neha Kataria. Music was designed by Vikram Mehta, set by Veerji sumbli, costumes and make-up by Seema Bhardwaj.
Tomorrow, Amitabh Shrivatsva’s Hindustani play Ek Aur Durghatna, directed by Sunil Sharma, will be staged by Hill Thespians.

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