Big star Irrfan returns to alma mater NSD for little actors' fest

The premises of the National School of Drama looked like a vibrant mela when the institute inaugurated the 13th edition of its children's theatre festival, Jashn-e-Bachpan. The festival saw eminent and emerging theatre directors along with some established theatre groups staging plays with and for children. It commenced with a musical dance performance Bal-Vrind, presented by young participants.Directed by Laique Hussain, the performance was presented by five professional groups from Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Delhi, as well as schools from NCR.
Manoj Joshi, Sachithra Rahubadda and Hafeez Khan, art director (L to R) (BCCL)
The festival was inaugurated by NK Sinha, secretary, ministry of culture, and noted film and theatre artists Manoj Joshi and Mukesh Tiwari. Also present were Waman Kendre, director, NSD, Arjun Deo Charan, vice chairman, NSD Society and Abdul Latif Khatana, chief, theatre-in-education, NSD. As this year's festival proceeded, all eyes were on the Pakistani troupe selected for the festival. But the wait proved to be futile as Charmed Ring, directed by Kashif Hussain from Karachi's Black Box group, was not staged as the team didn't show up. The NSD officials were also not clear on the reason for their absence.
Mukesh Tiwari with NK Sinha (BCCL)
However, teams from another neighbouring country, Sri Lanka, performed to great applause. Two plays from the island country ' Laughing Dreams directed by Sachithra Rahubadda of the group Red Apple Theatre Gathering, and Samanala Potha, directed by Harshani Rathnayake of the Haritha Team of Drama, were presented. Laughing Dreams described a little girl's dream of playing the lead role in a play, when in real life, she realises that she has a very small role to play. She enjoyed her desires being fulfilled in the dream, but finally, decided to come to terms with reality. Rahubadda, the director, said, 'The play was created to provide a new perspective to children and youth. We are very happy to perform before the Indian audience. We appreciate the effort and initiative of NSD in creating a platform like Jashn-e-Bachpan.' Samanala Potha narrated the story of Sumudu, a girl who took up the subject of butterflies as her class assignment and in the process, realised how humans shouldn't hurt other creatures.
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The 11-day festival concluded after staging some engaging productions for two weeks by national and international groups. Irrfan was welcomed with whistles at his alma mater when the actor arrived as chief guest at the valedictory ceremony of Jashn-e-Bachpan. The festival, which registered the presence of 3,000 kids, will be held again next year. Irrfan, who was present at the event for only a few minutes, played to the gallery, asking all the kids to not clap but whistle. 'Bachpan becomes jashn when kids do things that are of their interest. Once you do that, you will figure out the right path on your own. Bass aur zyada gyaan nahin doonga. Ab seeti maar do,' he said.
A scene from the play 'Laughing Dreams' (BCCL)
Kumar Sanjay Krishna, additional secretary and financial adviser, and Pranav Khullar, joint secretary, Union Ministry of Culture, were also present on the occasion.
Kendre said, 'I am surprised and happy that despite the cash crunch, people were highly interested in being a part of Jashn-e-Bachpan and therefore, almost all the plays went houseful.' Khatana, who was also Irrfan's senior at the institute, was seen having an animated discussion with the actor. The festival concluded with Dinosaur, a performance by the Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust, directed by Shravana Heggodu and Anurupa Roy.