Shivani Cultural Society’s “Ardha Kavya @ Hadsa Haqeeqat” fails to impact

A scene from the play Ardha Kavya @ Hadsa Haqeeqat, staged by Shivani Cultural Society at the Abhinav Theatre on Thursday. —Excelsior/Rakesh
A scene from the play Ardha Kavya @ Hadsa Haqeeqat, staged by Shivani Cultural Society at the Abhinav Theatre on Thursday. —Excelsior/Rakesh

Lalit Gupta

JAMMU, Dec 6: Shivani Cultural Society staged Vikram Sharma’s play “Ardhakavya@ Haadsa Haqeeqat” as the penultimate presentation of the ongoing Annual Drama Festival, organized by the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL), at Abhinav Theatre, here today.
Today’s play touted to be a magnum opus based on playwright Vikram Sharma’s trilogy of already staged plays, fell short of realizing the intended philosophical and psychological portrayal of man-woman conflict in searching of their real identity and the illegitimate relationships of so-called civilized persons.
Directed by Sanjay Gupta, the play’s plot revolved around Rahul Sinha, who after coming to know that he was the illegal son of Shekhar Gupta and not Dharm Pal Sinha, his father and that his mother Malti Sinha was, in fact, the ill-famous Maya Kapoor-becomes a case of split personalities: the present one and another one of Shekhar Gupta. Rahul’s wife Divya fails to bring him back from this trauma. Rahul commits suicide. In the end, Malti is shown as a great business icon by carrying on the legacy of Malti Sinha as Maya Kapoor.
In spite of the aesthetically conceived minimal set, the red drape in the background, appropriate light and music design, today’s played failed to leave an impact: Rather it came down heavy on ears as the actors instead of delivering the ambivalent dialogues with subtle shades of speech, relied more on lung power that bordered on shouting.
The actors who portrayed various characters included Shikha Bandral Thakur as Malti Sinha, Tarun Sharma as Dharm Pal Sinha, Raj Bhagat as Rahul Sinha and Varsha Bakshi as Divya Sinha. Music, set, and costumes were designed by Siddhartha Vikram Sharma. The play was assisted by Vikram Sharma.
Tomorrow, the drama festival will conclude with Natraj Natya Kunj’s play Macbeth: The Crown of Blood.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here