Nadira Zaheer Babbar and her team need to be congratulated for presenting a difficult subject and a problematic production in a simple elegant way, says Shivanand Kanavi.
Nadira Zaheer Babbar and her team need to be congratulated for presenting a difficult subject and a problematic production in a simple elegant way, says Shivanand Kanavi.
Director: Nadira Zaheer Babbar
Script: Varun S. Gautam
Research: Amaresh Misra
Costumes: Bhanu Athaiya
Set and Light: Ashok Sagar Bhagat
Music: Kajal Ghosh
Actors: NSD Repertory Company
It is perhaps more difficult to bring in the panorama of 1857 than to depict the 18 days war in Kurukshetra.
Primarily because of the spread in space and time of the former. Thus, it is natural that one gives up any attempt at completeness and focuses on one area. In this production the area chosen is mainly Awadh. Thus Wajid Ali Shah, the annexation of Awadh, the discontent among peasants, artisans and sepoys of the Bengal Army, and Nana Sahib of Bithoor and his lieutenants, Azeemullah Khan and Tatya Tope, occupy the centre stage. The stories of Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi or Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur or Moulvi Ahmed Shah of Faizabad and Mirza Moghul and Bakht Khan of Delhi and Bareily or even Begum Hazrat Mahal of Lucknow, are left aside. The last Moghul, Bahadur Shah Zafar himself appears only at the end. Neither is the treachery of Scindhia of Gwalior or the Sikh princes of Nabha, Jind, Kapurthala, Patiala and Faridkot mentioned. But what the play concentrates on is depicted admirably through good acting and script. Not to mention excellent sets and lighting, which despite being minimalist, make all scenes appear realistic and elegant.
The distinguishing feature of the play of course is the Ghadar seen through the eyes of the peasant, sepoy, courtesan and the adivasi. A worm’s eye view so to say, instead of the usual bird’s eye view! Thus, shoulder to shoulder with the aristocracy are seen Ram Charan, a peasant from Awadh, Subedar Shamsuddin, a rebellious soldier of the Bengal Army, Azeezun, a courtesan of Awadh and Santhals, Mundas and other tribals. In fact, it is these characters that bring action, laughter, coquetry, heroism and pathos to the audience.
That the content strikes a chord with the audience was seen again and again in the show as scene after scene and several dialogues elicited spontaneous applause.
For an Indian audience what happened at Sati Chaura or Bibi Ghar in Kanpur where English men, women and children were killed is not of great interest. The play puts them forward as a part of British machinations to inspire anger and patriotism in the European troops. However, true that may be, bringing out the facts about British atrocities of genocidal proportions in the Gangetic plains or the treachery of some Indian princes or the mature statecraft exhibited in the firmans of Bahadur Shah Zafar and Nana Sahib, would have added more value. In fact, showing the last moments of Bahadur Shah could have been easily dropped. There is also enthusiasm to show that Marx and Engels were commenting on the progress of the war in the New York Daily Tribune, a fact that could have been easily left out. Music and dance have been deftly woven into the play, making it very Indian but at times unnecessarily Bollywoodish.
The actors playing Wajid Ali Shah, Nana Sahib, Azeezun, Shamsuddin, Major Briggs and above all Ram Charan, stand out among the excellent ensemble cast. Except for a few blemishes mentioned above, Nadira Babbar and her team need to be congratulated for presenting a difficult subject and a problematic production in a simple elegant way.