Thursday 14 September 2023

"Okk hay ekdam"- Marathi play staged in Vashi (Navi Mumbai) on 10.9.2023

 A musical grouse in Corona backdrop

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 32  देखिए )



It was surely a hefty bunch of sweet melody and fantabulous dance bites well threaded to a Corona tale. 

Frankly telling, because of its pristine folk form of style and language, I could never get a hold of it and the play remained all Greek to me till the last point. AIl of my attempts of getting core of it fell flat. But I enjoyed the show as any other person will.

The issues raised were in the backdrop of  incessant spells of lockdowns in the Corona period. It took a heavy toll of life and amenities of daily wage earners including the 89 members of a 'tamasha' (a folk drama) group.  Through this play, they tried to show the true picture of adversity faced by the artists and how their attempt of getting help from the authority failed. 'Online' was the rage of the era. Every activity like marketing, dining, play, gossips, education and love, all had incarnated themselves in their 'online' avatara, why not 'tamasha' should also follow suit.

So a videographer was hired and a thrilling performance of 'tamasha' incorporating all essentials like music, song, acting dance and action was recorded for broadcast. The authority listened to their grievances and perhaps tried a help but there were many limitations. Many people died of Corona and some of them were perhaps related to this 'tamasha' group also.

The whole composition was a treat of dance, music and singing with a delicious splash of super-charged acting. The choreography was riveting and the whole atmosphere was charged up with excitement after the chorographical presentations . The front of the stage was resplendent with two towering pictures of  revered goddesses Laxmi and Saraswati.

In the whole play the word 'Vishwaguru' was uttered frequently. Though I could not transpire the actual context but I think it might have been used satirically. Also, on many occasions I found especially in the second half of the play, the actors were frequently sneezing as a part of acting perhaps to recreate the Corona ambience.

The play was jointly written by  Sudhakar Pote and Ganesh Pandit. The concept and research was by Savitri Meghatul and the director was Ganesh Pandit. The artists who acted in it were Savitri Medhatul, Vaibhav Satpute, Sudhakar Pote, Seema Pote, Panchu Gaikwad, Vinod Awasarikar, Vikram Sonavne, Abhijit Jadav, Pradnya Pote, Bhalchnadra Pote and Chandrakant Barsinghe.

All viewers can relish in song, dance and action of this play though for those who are well-versed in Marathi can enjoy it to the most.

.......
Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'
Send your feedback to- hemnatdas2001@gmail.com / editorbejodindia@gmail.com
Link of other drama- reviews:  Click here




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