Actor-singer Ila Arun tells Chahak Mittal how she connected the dots and lines between three distinct works by Dharamvir Bharati into one common thread for Shabd Leela
Six hundred love letters written by poet-litterateur Dharamvir Bharati to his second wife. The poetic love story of Radha and Krishna. The last day of the 18-day Kurukshetra war of Mahabharata. Even though these three anecdotes might seem extremely distinct from each other in terms of timeline, they do have a string of commonality that binds them together. And actor-singer-writer Ila Arun holds on to it to recreate and retell the three works by Dharamvir Bharati — Ek Sahityik ke Prem Patra, Kanupriya and Andha Yug — through a dramatised rendition titled Shabd Leela.
Explaining why she chose the three works, she says, “These are some classics written by Bharati that have greatly impacted people who have read them. I have been reading his writings since childhood and even my mother was very fond of them. I have read Gunaahon Ke Devta, another classic by him. I wanted to bring his works to life on the stage and do some theatre around it. His poetry, Kanupriya, has been narrated many times. But I wanted to create something new and of my own. Even Andha Yug has been staged in various versions before. So I thought how could I present these gems in a different manner?” It was then when Ila read his Ek Sahityik Ke Prem Patra, which has over 600 letters he wrote to his second wife. “I decided to connect the dots in a way that they brought out the writer’s creativity. Interestingly, the love letters talked of various subjects, including literature, politics, geography, history, physics, etc,” adds Ila.
So how did she connect the three works with totally distinct themes? She points out that the letters formed a basis to understand everything that had ever been written by the author. “Be it any of his classic, his letters answered why he wrote whatever he wrote. After reading those letters and looking at how he addressed his wife in them, it became easier for me to understand Kanupriya. I realised what was his inspiration behind penning that poetry. Hence, I decided to do it through his letters,” she says and adds that this was one way in which things wouldn’t have been repeated.
There’s a human angle to each of Bharti’s stories, she says. “After he experienced love, he found Radha and Krishna’s relationship to be very special. Krishna became a very interesting character for him. He looked at him in a different light as a warrior, a human being, god, a lover and a philosopher. However, having said that, one also finds his criticism against him in the letters. Through them, you also come to know about other writers of that era who have commented, analysed his work or criticised it and reviewed it. That is a very unique thing,” adds Ila.
When she revealed the idea of depicting it via letters to director KK Raina, he agreed too and found the idea very unique. However, combining the three was the tough part. Ila says that “love” is the common theme and sentiment that she held on to to connect all the three pieces. However, one might wonder that since Andha Yug is about the last day of the Mahabharata war, how can it explore love? Bharati’s Andha Yug showcases Krishna being cursed by Gandhari, whereas in Kanupriya, he is enveloping Radha in his arms. How has she placed the two contradictions in the same narration? She explains the different facets of love she found even in Andha Yug. “Even as Gandhari curses Krishna on the Yadava clan destruction, she still loves him as his son. Then there is Radha’s love which makes her question him — You are my love but now that you’ve created a war, are you really the same? She says that love cannot exist where there is war. Hence, Andha Yug has stayed so relevant. It questions the value of love and war. Jahan war hai, vahan pyaar nahi ho sakta,” she says.
The drama also showcases how Bharati’s letters included many other things than just love. Their relationship was much more than physicality; they passed on their creativity to each other. She says, “They never said I love you or I miss you to each other unlike today’s generation who are constantly on their mobile phones, conversing with each other yet failing miserably at handling relationships. They learnt from each other and taught each other since they were a student and a teacher who fell in love. Words played a very important role in their lives. They conversed through literature. They also discussed politics. He told her that had she been present during the time of Nehru ji, she would have been the railway minister. They talked about the generosity of Shastri ji. Hum kahan aaj ke time me politics discuss karte hain.”
The narration also looks at how despite his failure to ensure peace, it was Krishna’s presence throughout Andha Yug, which revealed that the ethical and the sacred are always available to human beings even in the worst of times.
It was indeed a challenge for Ila to find out that one letter through which she could connect the other two stories and weave them in the same narration. “Kaise nikalu voh common link?” she used to think. In letters, the two talked of Tagore’s works too. And one of them focussed on how relationships are important. That was where she found the right chord. She says, “It said, ‘Bandhan bohot zaroori hai’ and through that they discussed Krishna’s relationships with Radha, Yashoda and Gandhari. There I connected Gandhari with Krishna and her curse. Then I tied all the three things. I had to read the 600 letters over and over again. Otherwise, it would have been difficult. Ek mala banane ke liye agar main galat moti piro deti toh uss mala ka koi point nahi rehta. It would have been futile. The script had to be tight.”
Which is why her rendition is titled Shabd Leela, which implies the creativity of words. It is about how a writer can create different kinds of emotions and drama with so many words. Perhaps, it’s also why Pushpa Bharati (Dharamvir Bharati’s second wife) told Ila “how she has created history. Nobody has ever done it this way before.”
(The drama was staged at the India International Centre as a part of the IIC Experience.)
