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Horniman Circle Garden November Sun 15, 08:00 pm |
| NIRMAN KALA MANCH'S DHARTI AABA (Hindi) |
| 1 Hour 35 Minutes (without interval) Dharti Aaba tells the story of Birsa Munda, a tribal leader who struggled to save his land and people from exploitation by the zamindars and British rulers. Birsa championed a revolution among the Munda tribe, organising them into a new social order and inspiring them to fight against their own enslavement. The master narrative of the freedom struggle often overlooks the crucial role played by on-the-ground localised movements. This play is an effort to give Birsa Munda and his revolution their rightful place in the history of India’s freedom struggle. |
| Director's Note : It was a dream of mine to direct Dharti Aaba. Birsa was one of those personalities who fascinated me & I wanted to work on him. There are so many stories about the life of Birsa. It was not possible to portray Birsa without wading through the fog of fantasies that surround him. There is a theatrical language hidden in Birsa, and I tried Music & Dance as a key module to express this. Outfit, hairdo & the provincialism of tribal life are also modules of this production. The aim is to portray history & tribal society, and affirm Birsa as a soldier. He brings to the fore the struggle borne out of the sorrows of life; these are struggles that protect humanity. In this play, we become acquainted with the present and the past through the medium of theatre. Nirman Kala Manch : Nirman Kala Manch was set up in 1988 by four theatre enthusiasts, Sanjay Upadhyay (then a student at NSD), Ashok Tiwari, Dhananjay Narayan, and Dr. B N Singh. The group began with a commitment to perform plays for the common man, free from the shackles of political pressure and propaganda. After several street plays and a couple of full-fledged productions, Nirman Kala Manch steadily emerged as one of the most popular voices in theatre in Patna. In 1990, they performed Bidesia, which popularised the local bhojpuri theatre of Bihar, and has now become the most celebrated of their plays. Nirman Kala Manch also regularly works with children from underprivileged backgrounds through their Safarmain programme, which aims to rescue slum children from the stifling atmosphere of crime and delinquency, and channelised their energies into theatre. In 2003, the tragic demise of Pravin, a product of the Safarmaina programme and one the brightest stars of Nirman, incited the group to launch a festival, and the ‘Rangkarmi Pravin Smruti Sammaan’ as a tribute to the talented young actor. In the years that followed, NKM has been moving from strength to strength, addressing pertinent social and political issues through plays like Harsingar and Dharti Aaba (2007). This year will mark the 21st year since the inception of the NKM. |
| Cast : |
| Birsa Munda Suman Kumar Dhaani Munda Subro Bhattacharya Sugna Pappu Thakur Karmi Sharda Singh Bharmi Santosh Mehra Donka Rajesh Sinha Saali Muskan Gaya Munda Krishna Kumar Babu Avijeet Chakraborty Colonel Gordan/ Forwez Abhishek Sharma Thanedaar Manoj Patel Sipahi/ Daroga Anzarul Haque Munda Rakesh, Rajnish Ranjan, Man Kapoor, Md. Zafar, Swaram Musicians Harmonium Md. Johny/ Prabhakar Tabla Diwakar Flute Sujeet Nagadaa/ Dhol/ Mandar Banphool Nayak Saarangee Anil Mishra Jhaal Rangnath Singh Clarinet Mohammad Noor Writer Hrishikesh Sulabh Concept / Director/ Music Sanjay Upadhyay Lights Manish Joshi Bismil Make-up Dhananjay Narayan Sinha Sets Subro Bhattacharya Set Construction Sunil Sharma Properties Anzarul Haque/Md. Zafar Costume Munna Lohar/Manoj Patel/Sharda Singh Choreographer Rakhi Joshi Stage manager Pappu Thakur/ Sunil Kumar Pandey Production Controller Dhanajay Narayan Sinha/ Dr. Shailendra |