Lalit Gupta
Jammu, Aug 18: Samooh Theatre’s performance of Dogri drama ‘Baba Jitmal ’ at the Police Auditorium, here today came out as a refreshing gush of air in other wise sultry summer evening, here today.
Directed by young Ravinder Sharma, the play in verse, written by Dr Gyan Singh following the tradition of ‘Karak’—the Dogra folk ballad, was an admirable dramatization of the saga of 16th century Dogra hero Bawa Jit Mal popularly called as Bawa Jitto.
Part of the folklore, story of Bawa Jitto, who sacrificed his life against the tyranny of the then feudal system, has since emerged as a shining example for the oppressed and poor and their fight against injustice and exploitation. Dr Gayan Singh’s rendering of folk hero in a verse form not only admirably retained the flavour of ‘Karak’ style but also chooses repertoire of words that being colloquial exemplify the geo-physical as well as cultural mooring of Dogras.
Today’s performance was marked by impressive acting by Mahesh Puri as Bawa Jitmal, Vijay Goswami as Isso and Suneedhi Sharma as Bua Kodi. The other artists who also gave display of god acting included Tapeshwar Dutta as Mehta Veer Singh, Mahesh Puri as Bawa Jitmal, Kanika Sharma as Jojan, Sheel Manhas as Malli, Ashish Sharma as Gaggi, Vikram Khatri as Rullo, Reenu as Jouni, Rohit Chib as Nagrik and Ardali, Sarthak Sharma as Nagrik, Shubam Sharma as Baccha-6, Manik Sharma as Baccha-7, Rahul as positive image and Vimal Koul as negative image.
The highlight of play, which has evolved with each performance, was the presence of symbolic characters of good and evil that serve as backdrop to the protagonist Bawa Jitto and Jojaan and her wicked sons. Personified as white and black, the characters with their choreographed movements emerged as a kind of visible manifestation of the sub-text: the fight of good against the evil.
The background music composed by Surinder Manhas—catching the spirit of Dogra folk music—with its lyrical quality emerged as a strong element of the production, which many a times helped in structuring the production. The choreography design was by Rohit Bains, make-up by Shammi Dhamir, lights by Pardeep Sharma and sets and costumes by Dr Sudhir Mahajan.
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