Lalit Gupta
—Excelsior/Rakesh
JAMMU, Jan 22: Kashmiri play ‘Graed’ (Vulture), presented as tenth production of ongoing Annual Theatre Festival organized by Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, at the auditorium of Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, here today, was marked by masterly performances by Makhan Lal Saraf and Shadi Kaul, the veteran Kashmiri stage actors.
A Bhoorang Foundation, written and directed by Makhan Lal Saraf, the play, a take on historical and socio-cultural situations with apparent political connotations, was a kind of collage of various dramatic situations focused on vacillating moods of one eccentric character Kasha Kaul.
Full of shades of pathos, wit, humor and satire, the play depicts predicament of Kashmiri Pandit community that stands uprooted after migration. Going further from the traumas, anxieties, haunting feeling of victimhood of ‘migrants’ as manifestations of the condition of exile, the play is self critical in analyzing about lessons from history and future course for the community which is in a state of flux.
Staged without frills of any set whatsoever and the parade of props, today’s production was dominated by acting prowess of cast which included Makhan Lal Saraf and Shadi Kaul as ‘sutradhars’,. The veteran duo, a household name of theatre in Kashmir, through their inimitable manner led the spectators to enjoy a complete dramatic experience full of wide range of emotions where the tragic always lurked underneath the ostensibly comic dialogues marked with colloquial maxims, phrases and idioms.
The actor Kusum Tikku as young house wife and old Kashmiri lady left her mark in the role of aged Kashmir lady dressed in traditional costumes. Other actors who also gave good performances included Ashok Bhat and Maharaj Krishan Jotshi (Captain). Bansi Mattoo in his brief appearance as an eccentric old man was also impressive.
The scholarly opening and closing commentary by Dr Sohan Lal Kaul, appropriate background music by Amarjit Singh and live ‘aalaap’ by Deepali Wattal’ and light design by Raj Kumar Bhat were other highlights of the play. Make up was by Dr Kamal Sharma and costumes by Kamal Ganjoo.
Tomorrow, Amateur Theatre Group under direction of Mohit Singh will present Amitabh Shreevastav’s Hindi play ‘Ek Aur Dronacharya’.
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