Hindi Akademi, Delhi invited two young graduates of National School of Drama with creditable directorial experience to stage plays at its Yuva Rang festival this past week at Shri Ram Centre. Govind Singh Yadav presented Badal Sircar’s delightful comedy “Ballabhpur Ki Roop Katha”. Bertolt Brecht’s “Three Penny Opera” as “Do Kaudi Ka Khel” was staged by Danish Iqbal. The contents of these two plays are powerful enough to engage the attention of the audience even if the productions are directed lackadaisically. What was expected of these young directors was to convey the theme of the plays in a way that is marked by freshness to make the evening inspiring. It appears that they produced their plays in a hurry.
Translated by Pratibha Aggrawal into Hindi from the original in Bengali, “Ballabhpur Ki Roop Katha” was presented by the Democratic Art and Design association. Though Sircar’s more significant plays like “Ebong Indrajit”, “Baki Itihas”, “Tringsha Satabdi” and “Pagla Ghora” are rarely seen on Delhi Stage these days, “Ballabhpur Ki Roop Katha” is frequently staged by different groups with varying success. It is set in a dilapidated palatial house said to be three hundred years old. Its present owner, the last scion of once ruling family, is financially broke and is in heavy debt. The local petty shopkeepers give him groceries on credit, hoping someday the old palace would be sold. But there is no buyer for a palace in ruins . The present rightful owner is a young dentist. Unemployed, he lives with family’s loyal cook who has not been paid his salary for years but continues to serve his young master.
The palace is haunted by the ghost of a former ruler of the family in the night. But suddenly the young owner receives a telegraphic message from a businessman from Kolkata showing his interest in buying the palace. The message turns the world of the owner upside-own. Flabbergasted, he makes frantic efforts to display ostentatious lifestyle of a ruler. He utilises the services of his creditors to act as royal servants to welcome the businessman when he comes to see the palace.
This is a delightful comedy which does not intend to expose any social evil. It creates comic situation out of the idiosyncrasy of the super rich and their bizarre hobbies. The play captures the comic elements out of the everyday interactions and conversations of simple people caught in the web of debt.
It is designed in an inapt manner. The stage is decorated with bright colours and in the centre is placed a huge chair garishly embellished. In fact, the palace is a kind of an antique piece. Only small portion is suitable to accommodate humans. A gloomy atmosphere prevails. A big chunk of the roof has caved in. The owner is living in abysmally poor conditions to buy any household articles. The props hardly contribute to make an ambience of a bizarre and haunted palace to evoke a sense of fear and utter decay. Similarly, the exit and entry from the downstage through the front row of the auditorium to the main exit door does not appear effective enough to heighten the comic rhythm. The way the performers rush to and fro tends to be distracting.
Some of the performers deserve special mention like Shanky Jain Shah, a petty local shopkeeper and Chaudhary, a business man determined to outsmart his arch rival in queer deals, Prahlad Singh Bisht as shopkeeper and Akansh Kakkar as a local grocer evoke laughter. Abhishek Kumar as Mr. Haldar , the businessman from Kolkata , creates a caricature of a rich man ready to spend a huge amount simply to satisfy his whims is eminently comic.
Do Kaudi Ka Khel
On Delhi stage Brecht’s “Three Penny Opera” was frequently seen from time to time presented by eminent as well as amateur directors in the epic theatre style. Fritz Bennewitz, internationally acknowledged expert in Brechtian theatre from German Democratic Republic, staged several plays by Brecht including his Three Penny Opera as “Teen Take Ka Swang” in 1970 for National School of Drama which is considered by connoisseurs as the definitive work of epic theatre. Another significant production of “Three Penny Opera” that deserves mention is “Do Kaudi Ka Khel” directed by B.M Shah with music by Panchanan Pathak for National School of Drama in 1992. It was an adaptation of “Three Penny Opera” by Parimal Dutta. Danish produced for Hindi Akademi Parimal Dutta’s version. Last year his “Quaid-e-Hayat” by Surendra Verma evoked critical appreciation. But in case of his “Do Kaudi Ka Khel” he seems to have diluted the basic idea of Brechtian theatre to comment on human dilemma living in a corrupt society ruled by bourgeois, a society that trades in human misery and a society where the so-called notions of love and royalty are based on material gains. The main flaw of the production lies in the use of music. His music score includes a film song and qawwali, which far from creating an effect of ‘alienation’ to inculcate a critical approach to existing dichotomy, tend to reinforce the mood, divesting the production of its satirical edge. Danish’s production entertains but it does not provoke.
Some of the vital scenes like the one where a prostitute betrays Bhayanak Singh, a criminal, are deleted. Similarly, the transformation of the character of Phullan, the wife of Bhayanak, into a gangster in complete command of the gang of Bhayanak while in jail is omitted. However, the scene in which Narhari Poddar trains his gang of beggars to act as freedom fighters to terrorise the police officer to arrest Bhayanak Singh is effective.
Basically a musical comedy, Narhari employs people to beg on the street and collects the money from them . His daughter Phullan elopes with Bhayanak and marries him. Narhari conspires against Bhayanak to have the criminal hanged. However, the play has a happy ending. Varun Sharma as Bhayanak Singh, Aashna Koirola as Phullan, the clever and bold wife of Bhayanak Singh, Nishi Mishra as the wife of Narhari Poddar who helps her husband to control beggars and Vipul Pachori as Narhari Poddar give impressive performances.
