BENGALURU: Roerich Devika – Banna Mechchidavaru, a Kannada theatrical presentation, witnessed a full house on Monday evening. The show is based on internationally-famed artistes Svetaslov Roerich, a painter of Russian origin, and Devika Rani, who is referred to as the first lady of Indian cinema. After having travelled all over the world, the duo settled at their estate on Kanakapura Road. The play aimed to capture the life of Roerich and Devika Rani, enacted by Vinay Chandra and Kalpana Naganath in their estate in Bengaluru.
The play was written by poet, critic and playwright Dr Nataraja Thalaghattapura and was directed by N Mangala. The theatre troupe Sanchaari presented the play in collaboration with Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Before starting the rehearsal, the director took the entire troupe to the Roerich and Devika Rani estate so that they could present their characters as close to reality as possible.
The play made use of Hindi songs, piece of dialogues in Bengali, Roerich’s paintings and posters of Rani’s movies to depict the characters well in the little over an hour long play.
Thalaghattapura, currently working as Associate Professor of Kannada at BNM Degree College in city, said the play effectively introduced these two different characters to the new generation.
Through Roerich Devika – Banna Mechchidavaru, the director has brought the colourful lives of the two art lovers to theatre buffs.