Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 17: Natrang’s Internationally acclaimed Dogri play mesmerized thousands of the audiences at Jhiri Mela here this evening where the supreme sacrifice of the folk hero of the farmer, ‘Bawa Jitto’ enlivened by the Balwant Thakur’s superb direction and the mind-blowing acting of Natrang’s seasoned actors.
Set in the rural backdrop, story of ‘Bawa Jitto’ portrays the age-old saga of exploitation of landless farmers by landlords. Due to the constant and persistent pressures of relatives, with a piece of land as bone of contention, Bawa Jitto, a hard working farmless farmer is forced to leave his native village.
Accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter, he takes shelter in the house of a friend in Shamachak, a nearby village. The efforts of his friend Rullo result in a land grant from landlord in Shamachak and one fourth of the produce is fixed as land revenue. The hard work put in by him, the sweat and toil of Jitto turns a barren land into prolific treasure. This makes avaricious landlord to back out on his word and ask for major share of the crop. Helpless Jitto, unable to endure injustice, kills himself. The agony becomes boundless when Gauri, his little daughter immolates herself on her father’s pyre.
The lead role of Bawa Jitto is played by famous senior actor of film, television and stage Arvind Anand whereas the role of Bua Gauri is being played by young artist Sanchita Dubey. Other artists include Suresh Kumar, Anil Tickoo, Neeraj Kant, Vijay Bhatt, Sanjeev Gupta, Sajra Qadir, Mohd. Yaseen, Rahul Singh, Pawan Verma, Ankush Lakhnotra, Girdhari Lal. Harbans Lal, Sachin Saini, Sakshi Prakash, Uplaksh Singh Kotwal, Ashwani Bali, Shivam Manhas, Mahikshit Langeh, Nitin Kumar , Archita Sharma, Priyanka Sharma, Shivani Dogra, Masood Qadir, Mudassir Ali Shah, Ashok Kumar, Rishiv Prabhakar, Pankaj Verma, Vineet Sharma and Ravi Choudhary.
The traditional narrative singers Girdhari Lal and Harbans Lal who are working with Natrang since 1986 are the real heroes of the play. The lights were designed and executed by Gaurav Jamwal. Sumeet Sharma coordinated the show and he was assisted by Neeraj Kant.
Rajesh Kumar, IGP Jammu, was the chief guest while Shantmanu, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, presided over the show. MLA Marh, Sukhanandan Chowdhary and DDC Jammu Ajeet Kumar Sahu also graced the occasion.
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