Today’s Blog is not about Travelling but a big event that I attended yesterday itself. The event was the Kartik Hazarika Theatre Festival which lasted one week from 3rd January 2019 to 9th January 2019. Flawless actors like Manoj Joshi, Seema Biswas, Ratna Pathak, Adil Hussain. Himani Shivpuri, etc. were part of this great event. It is the first time that these actors have visited my hometown, Tezpur. My Father being an important member of the organising committee got invited in 5th January and 9th January. Not only these national artists but also great artists of our state like Pranjal Saikia, Pranali Borthakur visited this festival. The theatre festival was inaugurated by the media adviser to Chief Minister of Assam, Hrishikesh Goswami in the presence of the Labour minister, Pallab Lochan, the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Pritam Saikia, the District Commissioner of Sonitpur, Dr Manoj Kumar Deka and others. The festival kick-started with the Manipuri play ‘Macbeth’ by Ratan Thiyam. On the second day, the play ‘Don…Taake Bhalo Laage’ by Sri Sujay Mukhopadhaya took place. ‘Khamushi Sili Sili’ by Suresh Sharma and ‘Panchali’ by Dr Jayashree were the plays during the fourth day.The play ‘Apne Pataye’ of Miss Himani Shivpuri took place on the third day and on the fifth day, Padmashri Manoj Joshi’s ‘Chanakya’ took place. The play ‘Kabeer’ by Shekhar Sen was performed on the sixth day. Unluckily, I did not attend the first six plays. But, the end of the festival saw the ‘Motley Theatre Group’ founded by the Padma Shri and National award winner Naseruddin Shah performing and I did not miss it.
The 7th day of the festival was held at the ‘Nehru Maidan’ and the ‘Nehru Maidan’ was decorated very well. Pink, Violet and Blue lights fell upon the trees and the cloud above it during twilight looked amazing. A bare stage in the field was situated where the inauguration ceremony took place on the 3rd of January and a statue of the first movie director of Assam, ‘Rupkonwar’ Jyoti Prasad Aggarwala was made in the field. Policemen, Armymen and even Traffic Police provided security for the people. The long queue of people in proper discipline was the result of the security. The queue started from the main road and ended at the stage. The expected crowd number was 1600. We saw a beautiful bamboo craft outside too. As we were about to enter the theatre, we were asked to switch off our mobile phone. It seemed surprising to us but the reason was to be revealed later. Hardly, any seats were left as we entered. There was a mass crowd and it seemed as if the whole Tezpur came. We did find the seats though. In both the sides were few long bamboos with the Assamese ‘Japi’ tied to it. The cultural feel was persistent. After waiting for a while, Mr Adil Hussain, the talented Assamese actor who has been acclaimed for his roles in many Bollywood movies told about the influence of Naseruddin Shah in his life and declared him one of his best acting tutors. He appreciated our enthusiasm and said that every kind of art should be taught from the primary level itself. He also said that the people of Tezpur are way too adorable. Claps knew no bounds when Nseruddin Shah came to the stage and people stood up in respect. He provided us a glimpse into the play titled ‘Ismat Apke Naam’. This great writer was way ahead of her time and wrote about the sexual feelings of women back in her time of the 1940’s. Her ‘Lihaaf’ told about female homosexuality and she was summoned in Lahore high court along with Sadat Hasan Manto for his story ‘Bu’. Naseruddin Shah showed his love for the beautiful art ‘Acting’ by requesting us not to talk and switch off the mobile phones so that we could dwell in the era of Ismat Apa. When the play started, I, a fan of literature and Art really had an unforgettable time.
The first story ‘Chui Mui’ was about a lady whose only ambition in life was to become pregnant, so that her husband doesn’t leave her for another woman, who could bear him a child to carry on with the family title.
The woman is no more than a decorative piece but her character is contrasted with another woman who dares to have a child out of wedlock in a train compartment. This anonymous character represents the willingness to live life on one’s terms. Heeba Shah, the daughter of Naseruddin Shah showed great acting skills but her inability to separate the narrator from the characters made it comparatively bad. However, Heeba Shah’s transformation in case of the characters really was amazing.
The second story ‘Mughal Bacha’ was my personal favourite. One of my most adored actress Ratna Pathak narrated the story just like our grandparents. It was about the male dominance and ego that ruled back then and continues till today to a large extent. It is about a beautiful woman being married to an ugly egoistic rich man who refuses to lift the ‘Ghungat’ (An act of showing love and respect) during the wedding night and threatens the wife to do so. The wife refuses to do so and the husband continues the threatening for many days. The wife however maintains her position and refuses to surrender. The husband enjoys every bit of his life alone, may it be prostitution, card games, parties, etc. and the woman strands alone, virgin. Years later, the woman out of her urge to receive physical pleasure agrees to the egoistic husband. Over the years, the husband turns extremely ill and before she could lift the ‘Ghungat’, dies. Ratna Pathak showed great characterisation as she acted like a grandmother, an egoistic husband, a wife and others. Her movements from washing utensils to reading the ‘Namaaz’ showed glimpses of talent and the voice modulation made us confused whether she was a man or a woman. Ratna Pathak mixed acting and narration in a surreal manner and I, for the first time saw great acting before my eyes.
The third story of the evening performed by Naseeruddin Shah is called ‘Gharwali’. There is a rawness to the story, which depicts a prostitute cum maid. However it is the rawness that makes it so real and easy to relate to. The story is about a beautiful girl Lajjo of no known background but who has hundreds of admirers. A man called Mirza comes into her life, marries her and then forgets her like someone forgets a prize won long ago. Her attempts to have some much deprived ‘fun’ in her life results in a bashing received from Mirza sahib and a divorce. The fact that Mirza sahib was indulging in some of this ‘fun’ himself does not matter. The girl, who long ago realized that marriage was just a way to control the desires of women in a patriarchal world, is happy that such a burden is taken off her. This was the best storytelling and was my second most favourite. Naseruddin Shah did not show much characterisation and movements unlike his wife but the difference between narrator and characters was felt in a beautiful way. However, if we look into the storytelling, I could have listened to it the whole night. The storytelling did not make me movemy eyeballs and in terms of storytelling, he surpassed his wife Ratna Pathak. But if we focus on the mixture of both, Ratna Pathak was the winner.
At the end of the entire play, the actors were presented with the traditional ‘Japi’ and the actors appreciated the large crowd that gathered during each day of the festival.
The Stars of the night….
From Left to Right:
Naseruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak and Heeba Shah.
The Accidental Traveller! 