BHOPAL : The ten-day grand 34th anniversary celebrations of Bharat Bhawan ended with a Hindi play ‘Virasat’ here on Monday at the Antarang Hall of the Bhawan.
The Hindi adaptation of a classic Marathi play ‘Vada Chirebandi’, written by Mahesh Elkunchwar in the late 1970s, ‘Virasat’ highlights the social upheaval and cultural changes in the 20th century. Also, this social and family drama portrays changing relationships in joint families due to industrialisation.
The play revolves around a family of Vidarbha, whose fortunes change for the worse after the death of the head of the family Zameendar Vyankateshrao Deshpandey. It also talks about the saga of three sons of Deshpandey. The elder son, Bhaskar who is trying to reclaim the lost property of the father, Sudhir, the middle one who has shifted to a town and works there in a company and the youngest Chandu, who is uneducated and is forced to toil in the fields.
The play begins on the fourth day of Deshpandey’s death, when Sudhir reaches his parental home with his wife, after receiving the news of his father’s death and an altercation ensues between him and Sudhir over division of property, which drives a wedge into their relationship. Meanwhile, the Aai (mother) makes desperate efforts to keep the family united. The play ends with a family reunion.
Directed by Aniruddh Khutvad and translated by Vasant Dev, the play was presented wonderfully by students of MP School of Drama (MPSD). Exquisite set, costumes, lights, make-up and recorded music helped to create a typical Marathi ambience on the stage. It is noteworthy here that this is fourth show of the play.
Shubham Parik, talking about his role in play said. “I’m essaying the role of 55-year-old Bhaskar, who is very dominating. We worked hard on the gestures and behaviour of the character. As the play opens on the fourth day of my father’s death, I shaved my head four days before the show to give my character an authentic look. We rehearsed the play in dummy costumes.
“Our costume, props and style of dialogue delivery, everything was realistic and tells the saga of a common man. The play is a part of our syllabus ‘Realistic drama’. While rehearsing for the play, we learned how to express our emotions as realistically as possible. We have worked in many western plays but this play introduced us to Indian realism. Working with Aniruddh Sir was a great experience,” said the young student of MPSD.
