Academy’s Tagore Theatre Festival opens with ‘Khazana’

Lalit Gupta

JAMMU, Apr 23: In continuation to the 150th year birth celebrations of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the Seven-Day Festival of Rabindranath Tagore’s plays, organized by Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, started, here today.
With the Abhinav Theatre closed for repairs, the festival, being held at the Gandhi Nagar Government Women College Auditorium, opened with adaptation of Tagore’s short story ‘Khazana’, in Hindi by Nav Durga Kala Mandir.
The play adapted, dramatized and directed by Shashi Bhushan, was a comment on the materialistic tendencies in the society. That how human beings driven by the insatiable desire for hidden treasures as a panacea for alleviating their material wealth and status, stop thinking about the real treasure: the bounties of life that surrounds them like the nature, environment, land and the family.
The plot of the play revolves around one Ravishankar who finding that the skull-given by his grandfather that contained the map to a hidden treasure-has been stolen leaves his home and wife to search for the same.
After a chain of events, he succeeds in finding the treasure but is unable to get out of the spot. Thirsty and hungry, he realizes that the real treasure is not the wealth but bounties that define one’s life and to be able to live it with fullness is the real treasure.
Despite the lack of desirable facilities like proper lights and sound equipment and other infrastructure in Gandhi Nagar Government Women College Auditorium, today’s presentation-notwithstanding the technical handicap of dim lights, which put great strain upon the spectators-managed to bring home to the audience the message of the play.
Dilshad Shazi in the role of Ravishanker gave a good performance. He was especially effective in the Cave sequence where he goes ecstatic after discovering the treasure. Kamaljeet Singh in the personification of ‘Khazana’ as a snake also performed well.
Other members of the cast included Shashi Bhushan and Shishupal Khajuria as Sadhus, Rakesh Dogra as Grandfather and Pujajri, Komal Parihar as Radhika, Aman Verma as Villager. The members of the chorus included Ishmeet Kaur, Vanshika Kour, Muskan Kour, Jaspreet Kour, Renu, Aishwariya Sumbria, Mehak Sharma, Surbhi Kalsi, and Prabharanjanee.
The music and the ‘chorus’ of young dancers choreographed and designed by Padam Nath Kotwal, an alumni of IMFA, Jammu, proved to be a mainstay in structuring the play design. The locales of forest, temple, and the cave through different groupings of the ‘chorus’ were adequately communicated. The costumes design was by Ramesh Malhotra, make-up by Ritu Manhas and lights by Aditya Bhanu.
Nwang Rigzin Jora, minister for tourism and culture, the chief guest of the function, while appreciating the work of Gurudev, said that by dent of his remarkable literary achievements Tagore had made India proud.
Earlier in his welcome address, Commissioner Secretary, tourism and culture and Secretary Academy, Atal Dulloo said that the Tagore theatre festival, which was inaugurated today, would feature 14 plays of Gurudev. Of which seven will be staged at Jammu while an equal number of such plays would be showcased in Kashmir valley in the days ahead.
Among others former secretaries of Academy, Prof. Rita Jitendra and Balwant Thakur were also present on the occasion. The Academy was represented by its additional secretaries, Savita Bakshi, Shamima Akhter and Dr. Arvinder Singh Amn. The programme proceedings were conducted by Academy’s senior drama instructor, Dr. Sudhir Mahajan.