Nautanki style play ‘Harishchanna Ki Ladai’ marked the first day of three-day Atithi Drama Festival (Guest Performances) at Bharat Bhavan. The theatre festival began here from Thursday.
Directed by Urmil Kumar Thapliyal, the play was wonderfully performed by the artists of Darpan theatre troupe, Lucknow.
The play depicted the pain and conflicts of an actor. Haria has grown old playing Raja Harishchandra. The practical aspects of his life take a dialectical shape with Raja Harishchandra’s ideals.
Haria finds himself entangled between the reality of his life and the illusion of the character. The play’s central theme shows the unfathomable gap between the common man’s life and the myth of Raja Harishchandra.
On the one hand, the play tries to negate the truth in front of today’s materialistic society, on the other; it invokes the audience to raise their voice against lies, greed, sin, corruption and injustice.
The play has two parallel stories; one of the Nautanki being performed and the other, a real life of an actor. An actor has been enacting the role of Raja Harishchandra for years. While on stage, he imbibes the characteristic of Raja Harishchandra, of speaking nothing but truth and he starts doing that in real life as well.
The result is that while he gets rewards for his performances for speaking the truth, he gets beaten and is humiliated in real life for the same. Initially his wife doesn’t support him and advises him to be practical in life. However she accepts his idea and end up losing her life in this fight for truth. But before leaving, she takes a promise from her husband that he will continue carrying the torch of truth with his optimistic approach.
The play was beautifully performed, presenting the Nautanki genre at its best.
