 Early Times Report
Patiala, Oct 11: Natrang presented the hilarious Hindi comedy play ‘Sainyan Bhaye Kotwal’ under the aegis of North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), Patiala, Ministry of Culture Government of India at NZCC’s Kalidasa Auditorium, Virsa Vihar Kendra, Patiala. Written by the eminent Marathi playwright Vasant Sabnis in Tamasha style and directed by Padmashree Balwant Thakur, the play captivated the audience with its mind blowing humour, wit, and hard hitting social satire.
The play ‘Sainyan Bhaye Kotwal’ opened at a kingdom ‘Surya Nagar’ which is shown suffering from corruption, nepotism, and lawlessness. The king is busy in hunting and foreign tours and the functionaries of his government are busy in making the best use of his absence. Kotwal (Chief of police) of the kingdom dies and the king authorizes the Prime Minister to appoint a suitable person at his place. Hawaldar the only contender of the post who was waiting for the last ten years for Kotwal to die gets a big setback when Prime Minister appoints his own brother-in-law to the post. Now Hawaldar has no other option but to get the new Kotwal trapped in some criminal case so as to show him the exit. Kotwal who is fond of music is taken to a court singer where he falls in love with her and visits regularly. The court singer is already engaged with Hawaldar, who encourages her to continue befooling Kotwal and demand royal things to get her love. In this process most of the royal things are stolen to gift the court singer but the king comes to know only when his royal bed is found missing. The play is a symbolic picture of contemporary political happenings. A caricature of bad governance has been beautifully depicted in the play.
Balwant Thakur, known for his artistic innovation and creative brilliance, reimagines this classic in his distinctive style. Employing minimal props and focusing on the expressive power of the actors, he transforms the stage into a space of imagination and interaction. His direction emphasizes the essence of effective storytelling, ensuring a deep connection between the performers and the audience.
The result is a performance that is simple in form yet powerful in impact.
The play featured Neerja Kant Sharma as Raja, Sanjeev Gupta as Kotwal, Anil Tickoo as Hawaldar, Pawan Verma as Sipahi, Subash Jamwal as Pradhan, Meenakshi Bhagat as Mainawati, and Shivam Singh as Sakhiya.
The chorus included Kananpreet Kaur, Aryan Sharma, Kartik Kumar, Sanket Bhagat, Kushal Bhat, Prerna Sharma, Simran Bhagat, Krishya Bhatia, Vansh Pandotra, and Lovish, who together brought liveliness and rhythm to the stage. Off stage, Suraj Singh composed the music, Rakesh Kona played the dholak, and singers Parvinder Singh and Supriya Sharma lent their melodious voices. Lights were designed by Suraj Ganjoo, while costumes and properties were managed by Pawan Verma and Kartik Kumar. The entire troupe was efficiently coordinated by Mohd. Yaseen. |
