Lalit Gupta
Jammu, Feb 28: Staged under the banner of Bhartiya Kala Sangam on the fourth day of the ongoing Festival of Plays, the Hindi play ‘Bali and Shambhu’, despite its dialogic form came out as an immersive performance that was savored by the audience, at the Abhinav Theatre, here today.
Written by Manav Kaul, a Baramula-born-Mumbai-based writer/actor, and directed by Mohit Mehra, the play is about the two senior inmates of an old age ashram. The grumpy, irritable Shambu who doesn’t like sharing a room with Bali, an extroverted, joyous, young at heart, ultimately comes around to accommodate him. Shambu is bad-tempered because of traumatized memory of his daughter Titli, who haunts him as a spirit. Bali, on the other hand, is forced to take refuge in the old age home because his family doesn’t want him with them. After a series of encounters full of conflict, the two diametrically opposite characters eventually become one.
Sandeep Verma as ‘Shambhu’, the cantankerous old man, and Vivek Sangotra as boisterous ‘Bali’, emerge as the mainstay of the play. The chemistry between the two, who also show mischievous sides, brought alive a simple tale with a lot of heart. Swinging from one emotion to another, the play steered away from becoming excessively sentimental. The perfect timing of both actors along with small gestures and movements created moments of subtle pathos as well as humor on stage.
The set design was kept simple with two diagonally placed cots in the foreground. The freeze frame and synchronization between the change of lights with the change of scenes and controlled background music added to the overall quality of today’s performance which slowly and steadily evolved as a well-orchestrated melody.
The other members of the cast who also did a commendable job were Kajal Bhagat as ‘Titli’, Bobby Thakur as Gautam, Seeta as Jhilmil, and Ayaan as Shubankar. The backstage team included: Lights – Aditya Bharati, costume- Tavleen Kaur, music – Ankit Sharma, makeup – Lakshmi Sharma, and set – Rajat Kholi/ Aditya Sharma.
Tomorrow, Sangam Theatre Group, from Reasi, will present Rajesh Singh Raju’s play ‘Vikram’.
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