Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhya

Setup in 1947, the title of the play states that one’s life is incomplete without experiencing Lahore. Pre-1940 Lahore was a land of religion tolerance. The city had multi-religion, multi-cultural residents who had lived their for generations, till until the dark clouds of partition covered the city and ruptured it from within. The play starts in this dark era of Indo-Pakistan separation.

The play tells the story of an old Hindu woman who is waiting alone at her Lahore home when most non-muslims have fled the city. She is waiting for her son, Ratan, to come back. Meanwhile, her haveli is assigned to a Lucknavi family who have left their home in India to move to Pakistan. What follows is a story which upholds humanity and selflessness in the darkest of the eras.

This acclaimed play from writer Asghar Wajahat, performed by Dinesh Thakur’s Ansh Theatre Group is one of the most intriguing plays I have seen. The performance of actors is top-notch and moving. Preeta Mathur Thakur has played the central role which will remain etched in the audience memory for long. The direction is tight and keeps the audience hooked.

AglaPlay Verdict: A must watch.
AglaPlay Rating: 5/5
Language: Hindi / Urdu /Punjabi
Duration: Approx. 2 hours
Writer: Asghar Wajahat
Director: Late Dinesh Thakur
Cast: Preeta Mathur, Aman Gupta, 
Atul Mathur, Pragati Pandey, 
Shilpa Chakravarty, Ashish Saleem, 
and others

Below are a few relevant links. I have also posted the link to Dramatic Club IIT Delhi’s club video for those who may not be able to watch the performance live in their cities.

Other Links
A Scene from the play
Asghar Wajahat Wikipedia
Dinesh Thakur Wikipedia
A column on pre-1947 Lahore by A Hameed
The Hindu article on Dinesh Thakur
Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhyaa performance by IIT Delhi 

Taj Mahal ka Tender

A period drama setup in corrupt times, this play is a satire on current bureaucratic system. Emperor Shah Jahan wants a memoir of love to be built for generations to remember his love. The bureaucracy has other plans, though. Hand-in-gloves with contractors, the bureaucrats milk the opportunity at the cost of the royal treasury. The question is if Taj Mahal will get built, or… not?

Different groups perform this play regularly across India. The full length videos of the play performed by various artists and groups are also readily available on YouTube. I watched IPTA’s first-rate performance with Avtar Gill (as contractor) and Rakesh Bedi in the cast. The execution of IPTA was flawless as always, which is expected from it with the tenured ensemble it has. It is always a delight to see IPTA’s troupe performing on a stage!

The plot does justice to the topic it picks up and showcases gradual ascend of greed in people. It also captures the gamut of possibilities of corruption in a government construction. Continued relevance and simplicity of the plot would be two strong pillars of the play’s performance anywhere.

That said, the plot lacks the content to hold the audience for 2 hours, which is regular run-time for the play. Audience may feel the play to be boring and over-stretched at times. The comic situations, which are either absurd or predictable, do not help much.

AglaPlay Verdict: Average play
AglaPlay Rating: 2.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: Approx. 2 hours
Writer: Ajay Shukla
Director: Salim Arif
Cast: Rakesh Bedi (bureaucrat),
Avtar Gill (contractor), 
Rajan Kapur / Bharat kapoor, 
Manju Sharma, Abhishek Srivastav, 
Pramod Dubey, Omprakash & others

Below are a few relevant links. The web links to other reviews are also provided for easy reference.

Other Links
Full Play by Swatantra Theatre Group
Review on Repaitxt
IPTA Mumbai Official Site 
Avtar Gill Wikipedia
Rakesh Bedi Wikipedia