Praveen Lulekar
The man and the ideology called Gandhi have been analysed
from various perspectives – in art and otherwise. But history is often lost in
wrong perceptions that either glorify or mortify its characters. Aasakta
Kalamanch has come up with a recreation of Gandhivaad
on stage through the lenses, and more precisely, through the pen of a kin
of the Mahatma – Mahadevbhai, his secretary and onlooker.
Based on the daily diary entries of Mahadev Desai, the drama
Mahadevbhai was originally written in English by Ramu Ramanathan and was
staged in 2002. It has been translated and published in Marathi by Maya Pandit in
2012.
Speaking about the ideological and lingual adaptation,
director Varun Narvekar says that the simplicity of the play brings Gandhi to a
human level, “It goes in to details like how Mahatma Gandhi strategised, his
use of press and ideals like self-dependency. Mahadevbhai narrates many
incidences that elaborate these principles through Gandhi’s actions. He was an
eye witness to Gandhi’s work from 1927 to 1942.”
The drama also experiments with its presentation. Only one
actor engages the stage for the 90 minutes’ duration. Omkar Gowardhan, who
plays Mahadevbhai, Gandhiji, Sardar Patel and Dr. Ambedkar amongst other characters,
says that it is more a plunge into the psyche of these characters than their
physical attributes like body language. “We tried to understand the moral
standings of these figures through historic events like the Gandhi-Ambedkar
pact of Yerawada. The narrator – a character of a struggling actor, is telling
the story in his own way,” he says. The Marathi drama, unlike its English counterpart,
does not use any properties on stage. “This was done as a challenging
experiment with the purpose of doing more number of shows efficiently,” informs
Narvekar.
The motive behind the interaction of these figures is to
present Gandhi from all perspectives. “The drama was originally written because
Ramanathan felt that there was a trend of anti-Gandhi dramas like ‘Me Nathuram
Godse Boltoy’, ‘Gandhi-Ambedkar’ and ‘Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi’. There was a need
to balance,” says Narvekar. In spite of this, the playwright has not taken
sides and has narrated a story based on facts. Commenting on the conflicts between
these men, he adds, “I think we should get over the controversial issues. There
are a lot of good things we can learn from Gandhi and the other historical
figures.”
The drama
will open with shows on 5, 6 and 7 July at 7.30 PM at the Sudarshan Rangmanch.
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