Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) Forty-eight years after Ebrahim Alkazi staged “Andha Yug” at Ferozeshah Kotla, the classic play in verse has been re-interpreted by noted director Bhanu Bharti to be staged at the same venue with a star-studded cast.

It will be staged Oct 15-19 at the 15th century ruins of Ferozeshah Kotla in a replay of the historic production by director Alkazi, who too staged it there in 1963. The late prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was among the audience then.

One of the landmark plays of contemporary India, the five-part tragedy set in the last days of the mythological Mahabharata war was written against the backdrop of the mayhem during India’s partition. First presented as a radio play, it was brought to stage by Mumbai-based director Satyadev Dubey in 1962.

“I took it up because the play is a classic. I have re-interpreted it in my own way to narrate contemporary realities, but I have stuck to the essence of the play. The younger audiences are not familiar with the play,” Bharti said.

“I am busy rehearsing. It is a challenging venture,” he said.

Om Puri will deliver the introductory voiceover in Bharti’s production, narrating the backdrop and the story of the play. The cast includes actors Zakir Husain, Uttara Baokar and Mohan Maharishi.

“The sentiments of the play are relevant even today. The ambience of the venue — the ruins of Ferozeshah Kotla — increases the sense of loss that is central to the play,” the director said.

The play was written by Dharamvir Bharti in Hindi in 1954.