Bhubaneswar: Feb 04: 19th BHARAT RANG MAHOTSAV, NEW DELHI, WITNESSED THE FIRST ODIA PLAY BABAJI
On the third evening of ongoing 19th BHARAT RANG MAHOTSAV at New Delhi by NSD, Satabdi Ra Kalakar, one of the premiere theatre institutions of Odisha, staged the play BABAJI, regarded as the first odia play. The play written in 1877 is still out and out relevant in present time. The play deals brilliantly with the topics like people following sadhu babas blindly, falling pray to babas to exorcise tantrik misdoings and to get wishes fulfilled overnight.
The protagonist, a Baba, honest to his nail, makes it a point to make people aware against going to the pakhandi babas. The audience praised the director’s artist choice for the characters, Padarabinda Nayak for the honest monk worth mentioning.
While the original length of this play is two and half hour, Dhirendra Math Mallick, the director, has shortened it to one hour and forty five minutes, keeping the present theatre trend in mind. “Though I have cut short the play, but never ever imagined to play with the content” says Dhirendra Nath Mallick.
The lively acting of 27 artists of Satabdi Ra Kalakar, one of the premiere theatre institutions in Bhubaneswar, hooked the audience to their seats.
Playwright Jagan Mahan Lala wrote this classic and also staged it for the first time in his auditorium Radha Kant Mancha at Mahanga, Cuttack long way back in 1877.
In 1984 Satabdi Ra Kalakar ventured to enact this classic again on stage. Since then this play by this theatre group has witnessed nine successful shows including the recent one.
