A Magic Revived

One and a half hour of Romanticism !!! - - - the play Nagamandala , written by Girish Karnad and performed by Banasthali Students at Jawahar Kala Kendra tonight , was as charming as our Grandma's tales of nights. But the play is not just to entertain , the writer evokes many bad customs , practices and black realities of ancient India which in a vague sense have some relevance today also.

Once Shobha De had said , we don't need to write magic stories like Harry Porter , because Magic is imbibed in  our roots. India has been known as the land of snake-charmers. Why ! its not something to shame on as some people do feel . There are many sides of even this side of India but whole in whole , I feel we can never be stripped of magic. And it is for good only as it suggests that we Indians can never be defeated or destroyed because we have faith and belief on some supernatural force and it will save us from what so ever comes in our way.

The play is magical in the strict sense that it takes you away from your present world reality to an ancient Indian land of folklores and supernatural beliefs or in cruel words - superstitions. Playwright has mingled two Kannada folklores and the way he has presented the play before his audience with all his art,  is what makes him a great playwright. But no , I am not here to tell you about the play but about the performance of this play which I watched today.

Well , I have no doubts about the ability of Banasthalites ... no no its not what you may call "institutionalism" .. no partiality ! But yeah , its a big deal to Act and that too in English language. And what is more important is  to have fluency and clarity which was surprisingly there in the actors. Second hurdle , the girls playing the roles of male actors - but as always here also girls are multi- talented . They not only excelled in female roles but  well played the male roles with their attitude. Both male and female protagonists were superb , especially Rakhi Tyagi , the female protagonist , Rani , acted so naturally and prettily that it was impossible to take off eyes from  her. Even the girl who played Kalyaani , was so good in her acting that I was wondering if she is really that much old. Her Indian village "kaki" wala tone made audience laugh out loud. The Bollywood pattern dance in the Romantic scene of Rani and Maansingh also added charm to the play.

The play had so much Indianness in it that English no more seemed a foreign tongue. And about magic , well on me it had a transforming effect. I remember one scene very well in which Rani is telling "naag" (in the form of Maansingh) that her father told her about the Kobra in whose eyes birds see the changing colors and are enchanted by this. The scene was so enchanting when Rani without flashing her eyes looks into Naag's eyes that for a moment I had a vision of "naag" itself. I was transformed into some mysterious world .

The play no doubt abounds in symbols but the simplicity has not lost and one can enjoy even without understanding a bit beyond the tale itself. Charm and Simplicity are the two keywords for this play as well as the performance. Well well well .... I think I can write whole night on it but I think writing won't do ... I must off to my bed and experience it , otherwise the magic will be lost !