Lalit Gupta
JAMMU, Sept 21: Shivani Cultural Society’s presentation of the short play titled ‘The Jehad-Jannat Speaks’, at the K L Saigal Hall, here today, was not only a topical take on the Kashmir flood tragedy but also emerged as a saga of Indian army’s heroic role in rescuing the marooned people.
Written and directed by Vikram Sharma, plot of the play revolved around one seventy years old lady Jannat-who despite repeated requests by group of young Kashmiris to leave with them in their boat,-refuses to leave her house which was submerged in water till its third floor. Cut off from the world and left alone in the house where she had come as a newly married girl, she starts reminiscing about her life: her husband and children. Her ruminations, not only reveal the drifting of her one son and later son-in-law towards the path of separatists but also how her husband had also gone away after losing his mental balance. She laments the loss of her dear ones due to so-called jehad which had as if hypnotized every one.
Te arrival of Indian Army’s rescue team, whose team leader she takes to be her dead son, makes her to leave her house. She crosses over to the boat after crawling over the human chain formed by soldiers.
Neha Lahotra in her role of Jannat, gave an impressive performance. She was successful not only in maintaining the body language and speech of an old woman throughout the play, but also brought out wide range of emotions while narrating her life-story. Gliding between the reverie and the real life situation, she not only made the character of old mother come alive but also as symbol of trauma of all those Kashmiri women who lost for their homes in the most unfortunate deluge.
The chorus of five actors who acted as boatmen and as also soldiers contributed to the overall performance in an effective manner; especially the way the human chain sequence was designed in confined space of K L Saigal Hall. Chorus actors were Asish, Bhanu Pratap, Yogeshwar, Zafar Bhat and Rafeeq khan.
Background music by Dr Amit Gupta with effects of thundering clouds and incessant rain provided the appropriate ambient sounds while use of flute and the marching tune created the required emotional effects.
Prominent among the audience were Prof Lalit Magotra, Deepak Kumar, Arvind Lucky, Sapna Soni and Aditi Sahrma, young BJP leader.
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