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| A scene from Sapon, Bribhaanti aaru Kechaikhaati. A Telegraph picture |
Theatre lovers enjoyed the five-day Dwijen Bora Memorial All Assam Full-length Drama Competition at Duliajan that ended on Saturday. The competition proved the presence of a number of committed theatre activists in amateur troupes of Upper Assam.
It was really encouraging to see teams from far-flung places like Abhayapuri and Barpeta participating in the competition.
Altogether 15 plays were staged and most of these were above average in standard.
Credit must also go to Duliajan Namghar Yuva Mancha that, in spite of being an amateur club, organised the state-level drama competition where the total prize money was over Rs 1 lakh.
Sapon, Bribhaanti aaru Kechaikhaati, staged by Pothar, a Duliajan-based amateur theatre troupe on the first day set the tone of the high standard of the competition.
Though the central theme of the play was the age-old conflict between the oppressed and the oppressor, never for a moment the monotony of such a common theme could be felt thanks to flawless use of some refreshing elements and interesting sub-plots.
The focus of the story is the life of poor villagers for whom selling variety of fishes netted from a beel is the only means of livelihood. But the fisheries department leases out the waterbody to a rich and powerful mahaldar who becomes a ruthless tyrant. The only ray of hope for the villagers is Sona, an educated youth who tries to fuel the people’s anger by exposing the mahaldar’s misdeeds.
But the uprising takes place only after the villagers come to know that 12-year-old Ramani, the only son of the protagonist Dukhu, is killed not by the goddess Kechaaikhati but by the hired goons of the mahaldar.
Director Kushal Deka, if not so much commanding in the role of the mahaldar, proved his mettle with his innovative use of minimum set-props and spot lighting especially the red ones to portray the moments of agony and tension. Equally impressive was the use of a wooden ramp to depict the bank of the beel.
In acting part, Prahlad Kumar Gogoi in the role of Dukhu leads the team. The introvert nature of physically challenged Dukhu is well portrayed by his mature acting.
He has skilfully balanced the nuances of the character till the end. No wonder he was adjudged the second best actor of the competition.
Child actor Manas Pratim Sonowal stole the limelight in the role of Ramani.
It was indeed enchanting to see Sonowal, eventually the best child artiste of the competition registering his presence on the stage amid 13 other senior co-actors. Poly Gogoi, in the role of Dukhu’s wife Jetuki deserves special mention.