Iconic ‘Natsamrat’ staged in Bhopal

‘Zindagi mein aaj hum hain, kal na honge…Lekin, kisi na kisi ke saamne sar jhukaane ki aadat dale rakhna’ says the Ganpatrao from the iconic play

Natsamrat

which was staged in Hindi for the first time at

Bharat Bhawan

as a part of the two-day drama festival to celeberate the golden Jubliee of Rangayan theatre group. The play was originally written by VV Shrivadkar and it was translated into Hindi by

Sacchidanand Joshi

. The hindi version staged in Bhopal was directed by noted theatre director

Jayant Deshmukh

. Bharat Bhawan received a house full of audience to witness the spectacle of Natsamrat that propelled into mainstream with actor Nana Patekar portraying the angst ridden protagonist.

Alok Chatterjee

an eminent theatre artist from the city absolutely justified the role of the protagonist Ganpat Ramchandra Belwalkar, who is dubbed as the king of theatre. Chatterjee, who has also dedicated his entire life to theatre called the role “emotionally draining yet satisfying”. Talking about the protagonist Alok says, “He (Ganpatrao) was so used to his life under the spotlight, that when he retired his life disintegrates and he is left with only a box of memories from his days of fame to hold on to. The Shakespearean actor achieves the highest honour in theatre or natya because of his supreme skills, but as he tries to settle into an average life, he is unable to shed the the skin of the characters he used to play. His theatrics also get him into trouble spots with his immediate family”.

While staging the play in Bhopal, director Jayant Deshmukh used a lot of Marathi flavour to give the audience a slice of the original play staged in 1970 where stalwart Marathi theatre artist Dr. Shreeram Lagoo played the protagonist.

Pics credit: Vishesh Sharma