“Karbal Katha”, which was presented by Aligarh Muslim University Drama Club under the auspices of Pierrot’s Troupe at Shri Ram Centre in New Delhi this past week, is remarkable for its innovative format, subtlety, imparting a new dimension to the life and time of Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad, who gave supreme sacrifice to uphold high moral values and justice. Various expressive means are used in a restraint manner to reinforce the essence of the play with a view to evoke thoughts and emotions of the audience to fight against tyranny with fortitude and conviction.
Written by Prof. Asif Naqvi, the play is free from verbosity and has dialogues pregnant with deeper meaning. Dr. F. S. Sherani, who has directed the play, has evolved a form drawn from ancient theatrical traditions like dastangoi of Iran which is in tune with the content to capture the battle of Karbala between Hussain and tyrant ruler Yazid in 7th Century. It is a battle between two forces –– truth and falsehood. Hussain, his family members and a group of his loyal followers are surrounded by the soldiers of Yazid in the desert of Karbala. Yazid tells Hussain if he wants to be alive, he should accept his authority or be ready for chopping off his head for his defiance. Hussain refuses to accept the unjust rule of Yazid and gives supreme sacrifice.
We watch the fierce battle at Karbala through the eyes of the narrator. The narration is interspersed with offstage sounds, visual imagery created by performers with their intricate movements. The lighting effects enhance the brutality of war, killing innocent men and women. While the narrator pauses, members of Marsiya (Tarranum) and Marsiya Tehas occupy the upstage tastefully designed for them. This theatrical device reinforces the core of the narrative, apart from continuing the rhythm of heroic pathos. The images are created by the performers representing two warring groups. These sequences are treated in a surrealistic style which imparts subtlety to the production.
There is no desert scene on the stage and realistic details of the war at Karbala. This realistic device is very complicated, may even result in melodrama, making the scene tear-jerker and the production cluttered. The device, the director has chosen, provides the production with an undercurrent of anguish against the brutal killings of innocent people. The entry and exit of the performers acting as soldiers are rhythmic and the images they create have emotional appeal of a ballet.
Music composed by Er. Meraj Nishat deserves special mention. Meraj has set to music poems by poets like Mir Anis, Mirza Dabeer and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Mostly Marsiyas we listen to are charged with high emotion and are loud. A seasoned music composer, Meraj Nishat has the privilege of being a disciple of the legendary ghazal singer Begum Akhtar. The serious substance of the poems is captured in a slow, deep and restrained voices that stir human soul, moves us. Meraj has set these poems in classical ragas but in a way that ensures the ceaseless flow of musical cadence.
Ankit Malik as the narrator enters the auditorium in the costumes of a storyteller, carrying long object that symbolises lamppost on the street and moves through the audience , enabling him to establish a rapport with the audience. As he captures the martyrdom of Hussain, Ankit’s voice, his body language and the intensity of his emotions transform him into an inspired performer truly living his character. Such inspired performances are rarely seen on the Delhi stage.
What imparts contemporary ring and universal appeal to the production is the rendition of Faiz’s revolutionary poem titled “Hum Dekhenge” towards the end of the production. While composing this immortal poem “Hum Dekhenge”, Nishat has sparingly taken elements from Rag Desh to intensify the revolutionary content of the poem. Its rendition electrifies the audience. The atmosphere the music creates transforms the image of martyr Hussain into a metaphor to inspire the oppressed of the world to fight against tyranny. (In fact, the poem “Hum Dekhenge” was sung by Pakistan's revolutionary singer Iqbal Bano in 1985 as a protest against Zia's military dictatorship. We occasionally see on the Delhi stage this poem in dramatic presentations.)
