In the Heart of a Fakir

By Suparna Thombare, "Poetry in motion" - Daily News & Analysis - Mumbai, India
Friday, November 7, 2008

Two Marathi plays — Giribala and Tu — translate dance and poetry on stage

There is a common thread between the two Marathi plays to be staged at this year’s Prithvi Festival. Both are experimenting with theatre techniques.

While one is veteran director Chetan Datar’s Giribala—a fusion of live song, dance and acting, the other is Mohit Takalkar’s Tu—a Marathi rendition of the 13th century Sufi poet Jalalludin Rumi’s work.

Giribala adapts Rabindranath Tagore’s Bengali tale Manbhajan into Marathi. It is the story of a husband and wife, and the husband’s obsession with a theatre actress.

The play has been criticised for over emphasising dance and losing out on the tale’s real essence in the process of adaptation. Even though the play’s very technique becomes its pitfall at times, it’s an interesting play to watch for the amalgamation of live singing, music and acting.

This could be the reason for the choice of this play for the festival. It could be a fitting tribute to Chetan Datar.

Whatever the reason, Arun Kakade of Awishkar committee feels honoured that the play got selected. “Since the plays have been chosen by Satyadev Dubey, I feel very honoured. Chetan Datar is no longer amongst us but the show must go on. His theatre will always remain,” he says.

The second play is Mohit Takalkar’s Tu written by Satee Bhave.

The spiritual mystic of Rumi’s 52 plays has been put together to weave a story. It explores how a man, a woman, and a king discover true love in the heart of a fakir.

With minimalist sets and props, the dialogues derived from the supreme poet become the mainstay of the play.

For Aasakta theatre group from Pune, producers of the play, it reinstates the fact that they should continue experimenting the way they have in the past.

“Dubeyji doesn’t really believe in the Sufi philosophy but he said that this play made him think. That was very humbling,” says Ashish Mehta of Aasakta.

[Picture: Poster of "Tu" from Aasakta's website: http://aasakta.com/v1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=33].