 Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 20: The 4th Natrang Theatre Festival of the year 2018 opened here today at Abhinav Theatre Jammu with presentation of Dogri play "Mahabhoj'.
The play is written by Manu Bhandari, adapted in Dogri by Prof. Ram Nath Shasrti. Natrang Director Balwant Thakur presented an overview about the celebrations of 35 Years of Natrang in which Natrang is showcasing a festival of four plays every month since May, 2018.
The play Mahabhoj revolves around the agricultural labourers of 'SAROHA' who bear the brunt of the wrath of their landlord for raising voice against his atrocities. In a gruesome act of arson, their settlements are torched and nine innocent lives are lost. "Beesu", a fiery young man is murdered in a dastardly act and a bold voice is strangulated. The murder of 'Beesu' is sensationalized and every political party is out to earn maximum mileage out of it as elections are round the corner.
The Media magnifies this tragedy beyond proportions. The Chief Minister, Da Sahib, mastermind behind the murder, uses this murder as a weapon to silence his opponents and suppress internal unrest within party ranks. The hurt sentiments of people of 'Saroha' are nursed by installing a Cottage Industry Project, thus, providing employment opportunities. A fresh inquiry is ordered into Beesu's murder. The politics of power plays its dirty game once again and truth becomes a casualty. 'Binda' a friend of Beesu and a crusader, is falsely implicated and arrested.
The play deals both with the hawkish lust of human beings for power and tenacity of human race to stand up courageously against all odds.
Today's performance will be remembered for mind blowing acting, highly innovative direction and soulful music. Vikrant Sharma as Binda, Suresh Kumar as Daa Sahib, Anil Tickoo as Zorawar, Thanedaar. and Datta Babu, Neeraj Kant as Paande Jee, Sukal Babu and SP, Sumeet Sharma as Lakhan and Sipaahi, Rahul Singh as Mahesh and Appa Sahib and Mohd Yaseen as Heera were very impressive in their respective performances , . Amongst female performers Meenakshi Bhagat as Rukma, Gauri Thakur as Yamuna and Vrinda Sharma as Heeri gave engrossing performances. Others who gave impressive performances included Subash Jamwal, Mahikshit Singh Sambyal, Shivam Singh, Manoj Kumar Lalotra, Gopi Sharma, and Sushaant Singh Charak. The most noteworthy part of the play was it's live music which was creatively scored by Suraj Singh. Thie lights of the play were designed and executed by Pankaj Sharma. Those who managed the hall included Abhi Bagotra, Vanshika Gupta, Deepali Sharma,Kushal Sharma, Ashely Mehta, Zeeshan Haider, Ajay Kumar Lalotra, Afaq Khan, Ujhwal Bandral, Sheetal Jhadan, Goutam Sharma and Mohit Kaul. |
