Sayandeb Bhattacharya, the director of Simantini and Dui Hujurer Gappo , is known to stage humorous plays with a powerful message. Last week, Sayandeb directed the Bengali play Sadichha-r Rangbadal, Meghnad Bhattacharya’s translation of Mahesh Dattani’s Where There’s A Will , which was staged at ADA Ranga Mandira. It exposed not only the arrogance of the upper class but also the hypocrisy inherent in human nature.
The plot is simple. It revolves around the life of Hasmukh Mehta, a rich businessman, and his family. Mehta is proud of his achievements and contemptuous of people who don’t measure up to his notion of being successful, which includes his son, Ajit, whom he considers a “nincompoop”.
Ajit is a simpleton with no real ambitions who is adored by his mother, Sonal and used by his wife, Preeti. Hasmukh has no interest in either his “boring wife” or his “sly as a snake” daughter-in-law. The self-obsessed Hasmukh, who believes his family is undeserving of such a wonderful father and husband, never tires of blowing his own trumpet.
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The character of Ajit is a perfect foil to that of Mehta’s; this is revealed towards the end of the play, when Mehta’s mistress Kiran Javeri appears.
The worldly-wise Kiran makes a strange offer to stay with Hasmukh’s family. Will the family accept her? Do they agree to her terms? This leads to unexpected twists in the second half.
The most poignant part is when Kiran wonders if an individual’s life is overshadowed by expectations of his family or peer group; if our life choices are made out of our free will or out of a need to seek social acceptance.
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Sayandeb’s direction was competent and his portrayal of Hasmukh Mehta appropriate. The first half was entertaining for Hasmukh’s interactions with Ajit and monologues full of complaints against his family.
Suchandan Shyamal effectively depicted the essence of Ajit Mehta’s character through an understated acting style.
Tisha Banerjee was well-suited for the character of Sonal Mehta and Priyanka Bhattacharya showed the transformation of Preeti Mehta, from demure to aggressive, very well. Satabdi Banerjee as the professional Kiran Javeri was effective. The art design by Utkal Mohanty and Subrata Sen was detailed. A lot of work went into designing the props and costumes.
The sets, even though they showed Hasmukh’s opulent lifestyle well, made the stage look cluttered, leaving little room for the actors to move. It was refreshing to see, in these times of preference for minimal sets, the attention paid to production values.
Sadichha-r Rangbadal appealed for its wonderful sense of dialogue and thorough characterisation.