Goonj: Bridging generation gap

lucknow: goonj — an attempt to bridge the generation gap — was staged at the ganna sansthan auditorium here on the international women’s day on friday. the play, presented by lucknow times in association with the indian academy of art and culture and surnai, a drama group from mumbai, was based on affection and bonding between a young girl and her grand-father.a village girl living along with her grand-father nurtures the desire of becoming a singer and wants to break the shackles of rural life. her grand-father, a retired army officer, is afraid of risks that she might face when exposed to the urban life. aware of the ambition of his grand-daughter, the armyman-turned-farmer is still haunted by the memory of his daughter who too was lured by the charms of urban life. in her zeal to give her dreams a practical shape, her daughter left the village along with her boy friend who later ditched her. she died after giving birth to a baby girl. that baby girl has now attained adolescence and wishes to become a pop star. the ensuing tussle passes through many tender moments and at last the grand-father relents. the play ends with the message that life is a never-ending process. isshita arun, playing the role of veronica (grand-daughter) gave an ample proof of her acting skills. she lived the character with aplomb and was never bogged down by the presence of a senior artiste kk raina who portrayed the character of grand-father. the play has a clear message for women that they should adopt a progressive attitude but without giving up the traditional values. kk raina claimed that the emotional angle of the story appealed him the most. the play was an adaptation of african play valley song by athol fugart. the play was adapted in hindi by ila arun. the light arrangement by salim akhtar was superb and all the songs were sung by isshita.