Lalit Gupta
JAMMU, Mar 19: Displaying the power of art to show mirror to the society, ‘Rajdarshan’, the Bengali masterpiece of theater by Manoj Mitra was presented by Nav Durga Kala Manch (NDMK) on the third day of ongoing Annual Drama Festival, here today.
Designed and directed by Aditya Bhanu, the play Rajdarshan begins with the god of misfortune, Shani, turning his attention towards Raja Nanda, the king of Ayodhya. The king, stricken by an incurable disease, seeks a miracle by announcing donations of gold and silver to all Brahmins (priestly caste) of the kingdom. Enticed by the offer, a poor and frail Brahmin, Lambodar Bhatta undertakes the long journey to the capital on the strong shoulders of his adopted son, Abhiram – the blacksmith.
Meanwhile, the king dies and the capital is rife with impending revolts. Inner-palace conspiracy is led by the king’s brother Chandraketu and the youngest queen Yashomati. A boon from Shani transports the soul of the greedy Brahmin, Lambodhar Bhatta into the royal corpse and the king is reborn.Royal decadence corrupts the soul and Lambodar Bhatta who forgets his humble origins. But Abhiram believes that man must earn his own livelihood and not crave for unearned riches. The land of his birth, however remote and backward, is his true place on earth. In a turn of events, the Raja is killed and Lambodar soul comes back to his body. Lambodar who was led astray by royal power, privileges and riches is happy to come back to his roots.
Today’s performance by cast comprising mostly of young actors not only succeeded in communicating the message of play but also came out to be a good production.Dilshad Sazi as Lambodar gave an excellent performance exhibiting a tremendous coordination between speech, gestures and body movements. Such was his acting prowess that it also fired up others members of the team to maintain the pace set by him. Kibu Kabir as Abhiram, Aditya Bhanu as Chander Ketu, Reetu Manhas as Kubja, Bhanu Priya as Yashomati, Shashi Bhushan as Mahamatya, also acted well.
Other members of the cast were Ashish Bhat, Mohit Khajuria, Sumit Soodan, Sandeep Sharma, Nikhil, Imtiyaaz Ahmed, Kannav Chopra, Pooja, Divya, Sonia, Manish Malhotra and Abhijeet Khajuria.
The minimal sets with appropriate costumes and make up were the highlights while lights and music often miscued failed to give further fillip to performance.
The fourth performance of the annual festival, ‘Rath Mein Kangar Whuch Mein Duov’-a Kashmiri play would be presented by Naqaib Rangmanch on March 21.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel