Tagore’s tale on the stage

The palace in Rabindranath Tagore’s short story “Khudito Pashan” was nothing short of Kubla Khan’s pleasure dome except, the Abyssinian maid was replaced by a host of disembodied spirits of Iranian girls who used to provide lascivious pleasure to the Shah of Mahmud, the second.
It’s no surprise, therefore, when Kunal Padhy, in the role of the young tax collector, decides to stay at the haunted palace that these spirits are brought alive by lust for human touch.
The tax collector is lured into the past trap by the spirit of the beautiful Iranian girl, played by Susmita Chatterjee, and is almost pushed onto the verge of insanity. The play, thus, had the audience mesmerized by some strong performances on Monday at a city auditorium. The haunting melodies were rendered beautifully by Saksi Rao on the cello and Shubhendra Rao on the sitar.