Black Pearl Delhi presented 'Maharathi' at Versova (Mumbai) on 20.6.2019

The discourse of a motherless hero 

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The question of Karna to his mother Kunti is why she came now when the battle of Mahabharata has been announced? Why she did not accept him as a son in action or words? Why he had to bear the utmost scorn of the society with a low-caste tag that was false? Why he was insulted in the 'swaymvar' of Draupadi because he could not carry the name of his lineage with him? And the vital question comes here - why she did not remember her first most lovable child for decades ? Kunti says she never forgot her child but as he was taken birth before her marriage so she could not announce her relation to him in public. Karna says the world would not have collapsed had she announced her motherhood to him. She must have dared.

He is a the man in the royal palace still a motherless destitute. He is the eldest prince of Hastinapur and should have been crowned but is reduced to just an underdog of his younger brother Duryodhan. He is the most able warrior of the time and from Rajputra caste still not accepted for training by Dronacharya with other princes because of low-caste tag as his virtual father was a chariot driver. He maintained the highest ethical standards to keep his words and was cheated to lose his vital armour to Indra for the very reason. The tale of this bravest warrior of the age is a series of neglect and ignominy for no fault of self. Even his mother proved to be the most forgetful for him who just after his birth kept him in a box and left it on the waves of a river. 

Lord Krishna's actions in this episode is also is just of a shrewd politician who also abets Arjuna for breaking the set standards of ethics. The view of Krishna was that for achieving a larger good for the society many smaller bad means can be adopted. Though our society nowadays have adapted in the manner that any bad means can be adopted for showing a false dream to the society ofsome good object.

Lord Krishna goes first to Duryodhana and after his rejection to Karna to avoid the Mahabharata war. Though Karna is respectful to Lord Krishna but shows his inability to desist from his loyalty to Hastinapur prince Duryodhaa 

As a result of curses the wheel of Karna is trapped in the mud and Arjuna shoots arrow killing him. The climax is not when Krishna actuates a reluctant Arjuna to shoot the arrow on the unarmed Karna but is when after his death his mother Kunti cries saying that she had lost her most able 'son'. And the poignancy reaches its peak when after the death of Karna she could not resist declaring that the best warrior who died was also her real son. A mother hugs the disgrace of prenuptial motherhood proving that nothing is more important in this world than her motherhood. This is also the first reward in the real sense to Karna that he could not get throughout his life. The story of the a man thirsty of mother's affection comes to its logical end.

The play is also more about the tale of neglect and ignominy suffered by a low-caste people in our society still today. Since our national independence, the so-called lower caste people have been getting facilities in form of reservations in government jobs etc but they are still not getting the proper respect from the society who still treat them as a second-class citizen. 

The script of Vibhanshu Vaibhav is based fully on Mahabharata but he has succeeded in arousing a lively discussion on the matters of differentiation based on caste vs. merit. The basic tenet of motherhood is questioned. Kunti has to decide which one is more important - her child or the society?  Giving the conversation between Kunti and Karna a full space was a good idea on his part. The discourse after Karna's death between him and Krishna is another point to score to the script writer. 

The characters played by the artists were Karn- Rahul gupta,  Kunti- Aiman Khatoon,  Duryodhan- Prem Nagal,  Krishna-Nayandeep. The other artists may have been from among - On Stage:  Praveen Sagar, Shalini, Teresa, Mohit Vaid, Shubham, Avinash Rai, Amit / Back Stage: Ashutosh Kushwaha, Raghav, Sumit Suman, Bhawna.

The actors showed their mettle of living the hisitorical characters in their typical form. Still, the man/woman who played the respective role of Karna, Kunti , Duryodhana etc charmed with their impressive dialogue delivery and body movements. Krishna seemed to be behaving like a human being and in my view there should have been some god-like aura with him while delivering dialogues. Nevertheless he acted superbly good. All other actors also did justice with their respective characters.

Director Amul Sagar  knows well how to take the good acting out from able actors. The way he delivered the scene of murder of Karna impressed everybody. On the left and right half of the stage the same scene was running in two parallel fragments concurrently so that all of Krishna, Arjuna and Karna should face the audience.

External music and sound effects were also well synchronised. 

The show by Black Pearl Arts on 20.6.2019 at Veda Factory, Versova (Mumbai) was a most successful one and was well appreciated by the audience. The viewers were seen sympathising with Karna after coming out of the auditorium. 

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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

Photogrphs by - Bejod India blog

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