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Memory play

M. L. MELLY MAITREYI

A lyricist’s bouquet of plays give food for thought.



Emotional play A scene from the play.

The lovers of literature and sensitive cinema had a wonderful treat when the play Kharaashein, based on Gulzar’s short stories was staged to mark the Foundation Day celebrations of University of Hyderabad recently.

Kharaashein (Wounds that refuse to heal) is a collage of Gulzar’s literary creations on stage. The stories and poems are linked by the common thread set against the backdrop of riots. Enacted by actors noted for their performances in various critically acclaimed films and plays, Kharaashein comprised four presentations, Hilsa, Raavi Paar, Khauff and Khuda-Haafiz.

If Hilsa depicted the typical middle-class attitude in a riot-torn city, Ravvi Paar, was set against the chaos and trauma of Partition and a family’s disintegration in the process. Khauff was about fear and its impact on the psyche of a normal man in anxiety and Khuda Haafiz was a dramatisation of Samaresh Basu’s Aadaab adapted by Gulzar exploring a relationship which evolves under duress during a riot.With actors of calibre like Atul Kulkarni of Rang De Basanti, Anoop Soni of Apaharan, Kishore Kadam who enacted the role of Harilal in Gandhi viruddh Gandhi, Yashpal Sharma of Lagaan, Ganesh Yadav of Company, Lubna Salim, an active theatre artist, the event provided a rare opportunity for the viewers to witness thought-provoking plays with the actors transforming into the characters they were portraying with seasoned ease.

An added bonus was Gulzar’s lecture on ‘Role of Language in the evolution of Cinema’. The programme indeed turned out to be one unforgettable experience.