Bengaluru-based Abhishek Majumdar is known for his layered plays that primarily address the politics of identity. His plays have been critically acclaimed for their high production standards, but mainly for the script and the intense characters. Readers can now delve deeper into his plays as three of his plays: Kaumudi , Eidgaah Ke Jinnat (translated from English by Shirin Bismillah), and Muktidhaam have been compiled in a book: Teen Natak, published by Oberon Books, London . The launch was held at Atta Galatta, last week. Following the play reading, Sourav Roy, a Bengaluru-based poet and journalist, who has edited the book, was in conversation with Abhishek.
Sourav observed that Abhishek’s plays are a result of rigorous research, to which Abhishek replied that what goes into the content of the play is what you “do in life and what you read.”
Speaking about the specific inspiration behind each play, Abhishek said: “The idea for Kaumudi came from the fact that I had a teacher who used to speak a lot about Eklavya and Abhimanyu. With Muktidhaam , Vandana Menon was the primary researcher. “While she did online research, I read books,” said Abhishek. “We needed specific information for a scene, and for that we had to refer to a book on cities in the eighth and ninth centuries. With Eidgaah Ke Jinnat the idea came from the many trips I made to Kashmir. Shernaz Patel and Rajit Kapur of Rage (Mumbai) sent me to Kashmir many times.”
And then Abhishek says that meeting people there gave him perspectives about both sides. “I used to stay in this run-down hotel. Once when I was standing outside the hotel, I met a man who asked me: ‘Are you Indian?’ I said yes. And then he said, ‘Will you be my friend? I don’t have any Indian friends.’ I went with him on a bus trip to a school teacher’s house. There was a curfew that time, so the teacher took classes at his home. I also became friends with two CRPF jawans, who were Bengalis. So I got to hear both sides of the story.”
In conclusion, Abhishek spoke about the process of writing a play. “It’s easy to write a contemporary play, but to write a timeless play is difficult.”
