Lalit Gupta
JAMMU Mar 23: Shiv Mehta’s masterly Dogri adaptation of Vijay Tendulkar’s controversial but dramatic masterpiece ‘Sakharam Binder’, marked the eighth day of the ongoing Festival of Plays 2020-2021, at Abhinav Theatre here today.
The play’s protagonist Sakharam Binder is a deviant who has no regards for cultural traditions and societal values. Believing in a contractual relationship, he takes home cast away wives of other men. He provides them food; clothing and shelter and in exchange treat them as personal slaves.
Directed by Javed Gill and presented under the banner of Bhartiya Kala Sangam, the play opens with Laxmi, a docile and timid woman entering Sakhram’s household. After exploiting her for a few months Sakharam throws her out and brings another woman Champa; a flamboyant and headstrong woman who has abandoned her husband, the suspended Havaldar Shinda. When Laxmi returns, Champa convinces Sakharam to let her stay to do chores. One night spurned by Champa, the drunk Sakhram throttles her. Lakshmi in order to consolidate her place helps Sakhram to bury Champa in their backyard.
While retaining the original characters and plot sequences of the original play in Marathi, today’s performance of the Dogri adaptation was conspicuous for home-grown realism of the script achieved through clever idioms, proverbs and the colloquial directness inherent in Dogri language. The play enacted in the backdrop of a well-designed set came out as a captivating performance. Sandhya Khartol as Lakshmi won accolades for her superb portrayal of a culturally-rooted ill-fated Dogra women. Neeraj Sethi in the role of the selfish, foulmouthed, alcoholic deviant Sakhram, Pratriksha Sharma as seductive and vulgar Chamba, Javed Gill as Sakhram’s friend Daud and Jan Mohammad Janu as Havaldar Shinda-all acted well and made their characters come alive.
Music was arranged by Sandeep Thakur, lights by Rishav Prabhakar, make-up by Sandhya Khartol, set design by Javed Gill/Neeraj Bakshi who also assisted in direction. Tomorrow, Dogrim play Sas Puran will be staged by Society for Environment, Education & Modern art.
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