Life in =
a conversation=20
ROMESH CHANDER=20
| Aakar Kala Samagam=92s =938 Ghante=94 is worth =
watching for its=20
sharp comments on our social and political life =
without being=20
propagandist. |
![](3D"http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/07/20/images/2007072050120301.jpg"=20)
true to =
life Suresh=20
Bhardwaj=92s play, =938 Ghante=94 delights the audience. =
AKS or Aakar Kala Samagam is a Delhi =
based theatre=20
group of professional actors whose aim is to present life =
through a=20
theatrical idiom. In the last six years or so, the group =
consisting=20
mostly of professional actors trained at the National School =
of=20
Drama, Bhartendu Natya Akademi and Shri Ram Centre, have =
presented=20
eight new plays, six of which are directed by the well known =
theatre=20
director Suresh Bhardwaj. A recipient of the Sangeet Natak =
Akademi=20
Award and the Chaman Lal Memorial Award for lighting, Suresh =
at=20
present is Associate Professor at NSD.
An outstanding characteristic of the group has been that =
in each=20
of its presentations it has experimented with a different =
theatrical=20
form, as also the visual language. The group=92s latest =
production, =938=20
Ghante=94, designed and directed by Bhardwaj and presented =
at Sammukh=20
auditorium, bears ample proof of AKS=92s search for a =
different=20
theatrical form. First, a word about the playwright, Sujit =
Saraf.=20
The programme brochure tells us that Saraf, who now lives in =
Polo=20
Alto in California, has in the last 15 years written plays =
in Hindi=20
and English. =938 Ghante=94, =93Amaa Vasya=94 (1997), =
=93Tathaa Kuru=94 (2003)=20
in Hindi and =93Everyone Loves a Good Tsunami=94 (2005) in =
English are=20
some of his better known plays. He has also written two =
novels in=20
English =96 =93The Peacock Throne=94, published by Sceptri, =
and =93Limbo=94,=20
published by Harper Collins.
=938 Ghante=94 has an interesting history. The play is =
said to be=20
inspired by Murray Sachisgal=92s =93Typist=94 with a few =
changes thrown=20
in. It was published in Rang Prasang as =93Subha Hoti Hai, =
Sham Hoti=20
Hai=94. Bhardwaj liked it and took it up after introducing =
some=20
changes while keeping to the original story as told by the=20
playwright.
The play is built around two typists, Batra and Verma, =
working in=20
an office in New Delhi. As the lights come on the stage, =
Verma, the=20
new typist, walks in. It is his first day in the office. =
Enters=20
Batra, the old typist who has been in the company for years =
, but=20
had no idea that a new hand was joining him. He is curious =
as to how=20
Verma was appointed; did he have an approach to the boss and =
so on.=20
As we go along they both grow old while typing addresses on =
post=20
cards the whole day. They look out of the window on life =
outside and=20
talk of things that have gone wrong and how life has treated =
them=20
unfairly. For more than 30 years, these two men have been =
inventing=20
games that have a bearing on life. They enact short scenes =
from a=20
play of their own and comment on life and politics of the =
day. Their=20
comments on social and political life are sharp without =
being=20
propagandist. There are, however, one or two short =
references or=20
enactments, like for instance, from the Mahabharata that =
seemed=20
forced into the text. One hopes that the director has a =
second look=20
at some of these sequences and edits them before performing =
the play=20
again.
Well-enacted=20
The production, by and large, is well-enacted. Romesh =
Manchanda,=20
a senior actor on the Delhi stage, in Batra=92s role, is =
very good but=20
was irritatingly loud in the opening scene. Anurag Arora, as =
Verma=20
the new typist, earlier seen in a number of plays in SRC =
Repertory,=20
has come up very well but needs to relax more in some of the =
scenes.=20
Bhardwaj as the director was in full command; his subtle =
directional=20
touches and his intelligent editing turned rather a weak =
script of=20
=938 Ghante=94 into a good play. What is more, his lighting, =
design and=20
simple sets, particularly the window overlooking Connaught =
Place,=20
was indeed a stroke of genius. The construction of the =
window and=20
its use to project the story, one is sure, will become a =
teaching=20
aid for students of stage design and lighting in =
Bhardwaj=92s academic=20
work. Aakar Kala Samagam must keep =938 Ghante=94 alive and =
is a must=20
for theatre goers whenever it is on the boards again.
Printer friendly page &n=
bsp;=20
Send this=20
article to Friends by E-Mail=20
Friday=20
Review Bangalore Chennai and Tamil Nadu =
Delhi Hyderabad Thiruvananthapuram =20
![](3D"http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/hindux.gif")
![3D"Trip](3D"http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/advt/tripmela468.gif")
=20