Heart-wrenching portrayal of displacement issues

Khamoshi is a musical adaptation of Joseph Stein’s Fiddler On The Roof. Directed by chief of the NSD’s repertory company Suresh Sharma, the play was presented in Hindi (based on the translation done by Asif Ali) on January 25, 2018. The story deals with the displacement issues of communities and the Kashmir situation in our country.

The play depicts Kashmiri pandit families located in a place called Nandigram. The households manage their daily expenses by doing various kinds of tasks.

The protagonists of the play, Prithvi and Didda, have five daughters. Prithvi works for Nanbhai for a living along with selling sheep and livestock. Prithvi is well-respected figure in the whole village.

Though the Kashmiri Pandit community hold their rituals in high regard, with the passing of time they have begun to make compromises so far as following these traditions is concerned.

Prithvi loves his daughters the most. Going against traditional norms, he allows his daughters to marry men of their choices.

The third daughter chooses to marry a man from the Muslim community and does so without informing her father. Turbulence in the city soon forces non-Muslims to leave their homes and migrate to other cities. This aspect has been shown in a very emotional way. It is heart wrenching to see Prithvi moving out of his ancestral home along with his entire family. Through the characters, the writer puts forth a few questions: why did the government not take any action at this time? Why was this communalism not nipped in the bud?

Music by Kajal Ghosh was very effective, and songs, though a little filmy, were very timely and apt. There were lots of songs in the play sung by the daughters and solo songs sung by Shahnawaz Khan/Mahendra Singh who alternated as Prithvi in the play. Background score was good too.

The set designed by Bansi Kaul was reminiscent of a Kashmiri middle class home. Costume design by Kriti V. Sharma was perfect. Light designer Govind Singh Yadav managed to light the stage with a great deal of imagination. Dance choreography by Norbu Tshering stole the heart.

All the five daughters played by Parna Menon, Rukmini Sircar, Aprajita Dey, Shruti Mishra/Sampa Mandal and Sukhinjeet Kaur performed well. Bonali Borah as the mother was very effective in portraying her character. She managed to convery the agony and the ecstacy of being a mother to five talented daughters with perfect élan.

Amongst the crowd of Kashmiris on stage, Rajib Kalita and Raju Roy stood out as special actors.

The writer is a theatre personality and a well-known critic