Seven-Day international theatre festival, Rang Rajasthan, began three days ago at Jawahar Kala Kendra. The day was filled with activities and performances. It started with the play directed by Aru Swati Vyas that was staged in Krishnayan at 4pm, named Lost Paradise. Following the fame, credibility, and working skills of Director Aru Swati Vyas, it has come into light that the play was well welcomed and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. The play had bits and scenes that held the attention of audience and left them in awe. The Director played marvelous with lights, which assisted in more intense and realistic depiction of scenes.
The talk show that followed after the staging of play Lost Paradise, Director Aru Swati Vyas gave insights of the story, its origin, and its relevance to the original incident that took place in Kashmir 1990.
The crowd at Rang Rajasthan had been interactive. Through minor interviews and general questioning, the seeping in essence of Rajasthan and interest of people towards Rajasthani theatre was realized.
Gagan Damama Bajiyo, play directed by renowned theatre Director and drama visionary Abhishek Goswami was staged in Rangayan at 2:00 PM and 6:30PM today. Gagan Damama Bajiyo turned out to be a hit amongst audience for the story and performance by the actors gripped them in utter wonder and amazement. It was realized through the staging of the play that audience was able to connect themselves with the actors, story, the change in the scenario, and setting in the play.
The talk show in Krishnayan about at 8:30PM gave background of the play. Director Abhishek Goswami has been extremely interactive about the selection, value, and struggle that went in setting up the play. The play had quite intense meaning and moral, which is safe to agree with for the audience was left mesmerized and extremely impressed.
Schedule for 7th January, 2019 will be:
Bhanwariya Kalet by Sikandar Khan at 4 PM in Krishnayan
Gyahrva Kadam written and performed by Swapnil Jain at 5:30 PM in Krishnayan
Aap Aap Ri Sougandh by Sartaj Narain Mathur at 6:30 PM in Rangayan
Play: Lost Paradise
Kashmir is known as a paradise, but on 4th January 1990 this paradise, havoc wreaked on Kashmiri Pandits, the wounds of which are still raw. The Pandit population in Kashmir was 15% up until 1947, but today only 808 Pandit families, a total of 3445, are left. For the past 27 years, Kashmiri Pandits have been helpless refugees in their own country. This play starts with the genocide of 1990. The story is about a play directed by a Kashmiri migrated from Kashmir to Jodhpur in 90s; the play is scheduled for staging in Kashmir where Panun Natya Samaroh is scheduled to be held. The Mahotsav is aiming to convey the pain of the Pandits, and show how everything changed for them overnight and how their own people became their enemies. The actors, while going through this process, become stressed and decide to leave the play in between, but on Director’s counseling, rehearsal proceeds further. The Mahotsav gets cancelled, and the Director vents his frustration on the present system. In the end, all the artists move ahead with a positive decision.
The talk show succeeding the play had been extremely interactive and informative. During the talk show, Aru Swati Vyas gave away analytical insights of the play, the origin of it, and the thought that went in the making of it. The play kept the audience on edge, it kept them dwelled deep in the emotion where they laughed and they cried, they welcomed the concept within a play and the beautiful depiction of it. Lohit Vyas made the audience aware of the experience and interest Aru Swati Vyas holds of theatre.
Cast and Crew :
Sudhanshu Mohan – Son /Post master/Refugee
Praful Borana – Arman/ havaldaar
Nikhil soni – Aman / Refugee
mukund – Refugee
Ashok bohra – Jammu DGM
Krishnakant vyas – Refugee camp in charge
Prerna Rathi – Refugee
Nemichand makar – Kashav bhatt /Director / Refugee
Rajat arora – Kaul saab Refugee
Jayant kachhwaha – Amarnath
Umang Patel – Postman / Refugee
Swaru vyas – Refugee
Raghuvansh – Chintan kaul
Eshan purohit – Refugee
Sandeep – Refugee
Aditi Udavat – Refugee
Deepika – Refugee
Anita – Refugee
Design and Directed by Aru Swati Vyas
Total Team members – 19 Duration of the play – 1 hr : 30 minutes
Language of the play – Hind
Play : GAGAN DAMAMA BAJYO
The play follows the events from the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 to Bhagat Singh’s sentence to death along with that of Rajguru and Sukhdev in year 1931. Today, once again when the debate on nationalism is all around and on the name of it the separatist voices are getting political asylum, every citizen who holds critical thinking is being declared as traitor. At times as such, Gagan Damama Bajiyo attempts to look into the meaning of nationalism in the light of the dreams for the country and life sacrifice for the same by great martyrs in India before independence.
The talk show succeeding the play Gagan Damama Bajyo had been informative, interactive, explanatory for the audience. Gagan Damama Bajyo withheld the rise of Bhagat Singh, the death sentence along with Rajguru and Sukhdev, and the story of the revolution that led up to independence. Moderator Aru Swati Vyas enquired about the input, practice, and hard work that went in the making of the play. Abhishek Goswami, in return, gave away personal insights, his interest, and the captivating and compelling nature of the play that he realized he wanted to stage.
Cast and Crew:
On stage : Garima Pareek, Nikhil Sharma, Pooja Sahaya, Swapnil Jain, Yogendra Singh Parmar, Gagan Tridevi, Rahul Jangid , Samarveer Singh, Shubham Sharma, Chitharth Mishra, Ankit Kasana, Sumit Dikshit, Aakib Mirza, Prashant Sharma, Somesh Sodha, Ravindra Pareek, Kamlesh Berwa, Deven Kuman, Gaurav Soni, Virendra Solanki, Vicky Verma, Saurabh Soni, Om Laxmi Dharmendra, Suryakant Agrawal, Mohit Bhatt, Narendra Singh, Shobit Sharma, Moin Khan, Gunjan Saini, Mohit Sisodhia, Abhijeeta Sharma, Nishant Kumar, Yogesh Soni, and Vishal Hansrajani.
Music – Vijay Prajapat and Rajdeep Verma
Lights – Swapnil Jain/Abishek goswami
Background music – Laal Band Pakistan and Tahimur Rana (recorded)
Photography and Video – Prashant Sharma
Costumes – Group
Writer – Piyush Mishra
Presentation and Direction – Abhishek Goswami