Theatre Review: Homelessness and the desolation it brings

Ashk Neele Hain

Mere

Director:

Nisha Abdulla

Cast: Honey Raza, Shatarupa Bhattacharyya, Avantika Gautam, Abhishek Somvanshi and Gautam Mehta
Language: Hindustani
Genre: Drama
Duration: 80 minutes
Rating: **1/2

Plot: Lonely and disillusioned,

Rida

(essayed by Honey Raza) finds it extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact she has lost her parents and best friend in a social upheaval, and all she has now are the charred remains of her house. Suddenly homeless, a shaken Rida questions her own existence as she tirelessly rattles through memories and voices from her once safe haven. Entwined here is an ancestral character called Moidu (enacted by Abhishek Somvanshi), who time and again inspires Rida with the tales and rhythms of a bygone era. He is endlessly digging a tunnel at the base of a hill. And then, there is another homeless man (played by Gautam Mehta) whose soul is struggling to part ways from the hopes and aspirations of his earthly abode. He is in constant conversation with the ancient water spirit, Bahri (played by Avantika Gautam), who is helping him leap over to the other side. Written and directed by Nisha Abdulla, Ashk Neele Hain Mere is city-based

theatre

collective Qabila’s first production. The play was originally written in English, titled Blue is the Colour I Cry. It is translated in Hindi and Urdu by Mohit Kataria.

Review: The performance is a smattering of tangled stories of hapless souls, who are lost between homelessness and belongingness. Land and water are important characters in the play, staged in an elaborate setting that primarily comprises a small hill, a burnt house and ropes hanging from the top. Worn-out shoes, tree branches and old vessels are strewn across the stage, as a desolate Rida travels back and forth in time. Her conversations and arguments with her deceased mother and childhood friend Ashu (both roles played by Shatarupa Bhattacharyya) echo through the performance. Her dialogues not just provoke the audiences to think, but also aptly portray the plight of people who often fall victim to the ravages of life — their stories forgotten or unheard. The play narrates three interlinked stories, in a folklorish style. The background scores of rain and the sea add to the profundity of the script.

Final word: A rather riveting tale that draws people’s attention to real-life stories that are either ignored or conveniently erased from our memory. The element of depression, however, looms large through the performance, making the audiences crave some relief. A little introduction to the subnarratives and characters of the play also would have enabled the spectators to understand and appreciate the context in a better way.