Laden on Kolkata stage

The city will soon have a piece of dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden in a Gautam Haldar play
Osama bin Laden seems to be the flavour of the season. While Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow has recreated a part of Pakistan in India to film the hunting down of the Al-Qaeda chief by the US Navy Seals in ���������Zero Dark Thirty���������, Kolkata too has a reason to be ���������terrorized���������.Osama will soon be seen on the city���������s stage and donning the dreaded terrorist���������s avatar is none other than Gautam Haldar.
The play, titled ���������Osama���������, which is being inspired by the works of Jean-Paul Sartre, is a political satire. ���������There are elements of existentialism, humour and comedy in the play, the protagonist of which is a crook,��������� says Gautam. Incidentally, the play doesn���������t delve into the life of the terrorist per se, but looks at life from the point of view of an outlaw. ���������To eke out a living, the crook sells his ideas to all and sundry. Soon, he enters the corporate world, where his ideas bring about a change. He thinks he is bigger than the system, politics and money only to be reduced to a cog in the giant wheel of the corporate world in the end. Osama too for him is an idea ��������� a saleable one at that. He dons Osama���������s gear and starts selling terrorism,��������� adds Gautam.
The stage production, however, doesn���������t end with Osama���������s death and Gautam explains that it is not to steer clear of controversy. ���������I wanted the play to remain open-ended. Osama���������s death is a subject that we consciously didn���������t want to deal with. Preparations for the play was on way before he died. For the past two years, we have been working on the subject and needless to say, I have prepared myself by going through the available television footage. Working on the diction was not that easy and took me time,��������� says Gautam. Music for the play has been scored by Surojit and the play is all set to premiere on the Kolkata stage on March 13.