M K Raina Ratnakar
He was called by all the well known artistes of the Kashmir valley , the greatest monologist of the time and till this date any such monologist of his ilk has yet to appear in the valley of Kashmir . All the monologists who were his contemporaries and thereafter who jumped in the field have acknowledged their debt to Pyarey Lal Handoo who used to be a household name in the valley of Kashmir in the art of mono acting .
When Radio Kashmir , Srinagar was at its peak in the year 1960 to 1975 . Late Mr Pushkar Bhan , Producer emeritus of Radio Kashmir , Srinagar used to produce the famous “MACHAMA” series from Radio Kashmir , Srinagar .There were two important characters in the series namely “SINGARI” and “ZINGARI”. Both Singari and Zingari were the daughters of a demon . One of the characters was portrayed by P L Handoo . The series would be broadcast at 9.30 PM on a fixed date of the week and on every next day and some times even for weeks together , the dialogues spoken by Singari and Zingari would be on the tip of the tongue of every one in every household . College going students ( male & female ) would name their friends by Singari / Zingari and enjoy the dialogue delivery style of the characters by delivering the dialogues of the plays . Handoo achieved all this by deliberately schooling himself to a style created by Handoo himself , not known to any one else and the same was direct , precise and terse . He used to say and strive to give a musical quality to each of his word spoken by him in a monologue .
His subjects for a monologue were also of the most ordinary kind . His greatest quality was that he created a monologue on any theme or any subject . Once he picked up the nearest character within his reach , he had the talent to reproduce it in the same way as the original character would be . He saw in every aspect of his life the themes of utmost fascination . To this facility for simplicity , he added a compactness of style that would , with the minimum of words illumine the most of the minds by his innovative , selective and well constructed words.
His essential humanity and humility urged up all in his monologues . He scorned nobody as being beneath notice . He saw beauty in the drabbest of lives and caught those fleeting moments of loveliness in them and enshrined them for ever in his masterly delivered monologues . He never made “types” of his characters in any of the specimen of his mono acting nor did he set himself as an infallible judge over them . His was a clinical approach . He accepted them and presented them as he found them . He had the gentlest irony in his armory and he poked delicate fun at the absurd and the pretentious.
Very clearly , Handoo was a monologist to the core , so responsible of humor that when he would be in any company whether of friends , relatives or for that matter a number of people called audience of any sort – he would bring about a revolution by the art of the delivery of his monologue . His technique of conceiving and delivery of monologue brought in a directness , naturalness and vigor that went straight to the heart of audience . A number of awards and honors have been received by him from time to time for his stage and screen performances .
Born to Late Kashi Nath Handoo of BRAIKUJAN , Srinagar, Handoo was the eldest brother of the five sons of Kashi Nath Ji. From the early years of youth , Handoo had been associated with theatre . His association with ‘ NAVRANG DRAMATIC CLUB “ is really worth mention . It is at this place where he learned the nuances of the theatre and refined the art of acting to be a perfectionist . Though he has acted in a number of plays but his acting in the Kashmiri version of “ GODAN “ of Munshi Prem Chand has been highly commendable .
Prior to joining the audio visual medium i.e . Doordarshan in the year 1975 , approximately as a Production Assistant , Handoo worked in the P&T department at Srinagar , Kashmir . He took care of “ Asun Te Gindun “ for some time at Doordarshan , Srinagar , but his whole hearted and continued love for the programme “ BUTRAT “ is worth mention . “ BUTRAT “ was a programme for the agriculturists of the valley . The programme in addition to other segments engaged a number of agriculture experts for the presentation of expert opinions and tips and hints on best agriculture produce . The programme was a highly liked and widely viewed programme of Doordarshan , Srinagar .
In the year 1990 , he had shifted to Doordarshan , Jammu where he reached to the promotional stage of the rank of Deputy Director . Here , also he worked untiringly and whole heartedly , though he showed signs of diabetes which made him a little run down so far his health was concerned . In the morning of tenth of June , 2016 , he breathed his last and the man of many voices went silent , but the multifarious voices delivered by him in the monologues of variety will echo in our minds for all times to come.
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