Sutradhar presented Ismat – Ek Aurat — a collage of Ismat Chugtai’s three short works directed by Vinay Varma at lamakaan recently. Ismat Chughtai, the author of the short stories was a feminist by instinct, long before it became fashionable to flash the badge of feminism. She was clearly honest and perceptive in her presentation. ‘Ismat ‘ presented the truth of society and its women in the same way as she saw them. She wrote with a rare courage, truth and good humour which endear her to everyone who comes across her writings.
The stories are characterised by their ability to go deep into the very skin of their characters and bring out all their weaknesses, strengths and their uniqueness.
Each story is narrated by one of the three artistes in a sequence.
The performance begins with Guftagu (Tete-e-tete), a monologue by Deepti Girotra where she talks about her early life, family relationships and her writings.
How she enjoyed her boisterous younger days much to the annoyance of the elders at home by interacting with boys in the area and playing along with them. Ditpti gave a good performance with clear diction and confidence . The costume was giving discomfort to the artiste each time she was settling down on the cot. However, that did not hamper her flow of narration and she carried on, though the monologue seemed to be a little lengthier.
The second monologue Saas (mother-in-law) was enacted by Babli Yadav. The act showed the relationship of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The different moods of an arrogant mother-in-law and the soft spoken daughter-in-law and at the same time, the caring mother-in-law was all shown in this monologue. The author has shown the typical saas character which is prevalent still in our society. The artiste Babli Yadav was at her best depicting the different shades of the characters. She was superb and her facial expressions conveyed everything.
Third and the last monologue was performed by Pallavi Varma in Chiddi ki Dukki. How wit and attitude in a woman can be more attractive than mere external beauty. Here was a girl who falls for a handsome guy in town, she is aware she is not that good looking and may not be a match to the boy, however she outwits him to marry him. The author scripted showing that women who are calculative, with lot of courage and will power can achieve anything in life and looks do not matter to succeed in life. Pallavi verma, played her role with ease and being a dancer she carried her expressions and body movements with grace.
