BENGALURU: Court Martial, written by the playwright Swadesh Deepak, might be a familiar story that many theatre-goers would be aware of. But director Aashish Rana promises that it is more than what audiences have read or watched.
The play Court Martial, which will take place on Jan 24 at Ranga Shankara, is about discrepancy and the discrimination that takes place in the Army. How our soldiers are treated by officers and how they get together to resolve some issues, how a very devoted soldier breaks the law and kills two of his fellow officers, the need for a court martial...all of this and more will be explored in the 90-minute play. Since the play was written in the early ’90s, Rana has tried to adapt it to modern times. “I did this by adding scenes of my own. I have added different dialogues and nuances, keeping in mind scenarios that happen in this era. The original play is in Hindi, so I’ve added some English dialogues too,” says Rana.
While the play itself is very prestigious, it was the story of the writer of the play that intrigued Rana to explore it. “In 2004, Swadesh Deepak was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. In 2006 one morning, he went for a walk and never returned. No one knows if he is dead or alive. No one has seen him after that day. This is something about the writer that intrigued me, which is why I wanted to explore more of his works. This is one of the celebrated plays in the Delhi theatre circle,” he says, adding that the movie Shaurya – starring Kay Kay Menon, Rahul Bose, Javed Jaffrey, Deepak Dobriyal and Minissha Lamba – is based on this play.
Rana’s version of play came together but not without its set of challenges. “Arranging the uniforms and medals was a very hectic task for us. We had to get it from Delhi, and had to buy them all since we couldn’t rent Army uniforms in Bengaluru. We wanted to get into the skin of the character. The task was to not act like an Army officer, it was about how to make a normal actor feel like an officer. Viewers will definitely be able to see these finer details,” says Rana.
The play Court Martial is about a highly obedient soldier who is found on the wrong side of the law. His actions shock the regiment and the Army orders a court martial to investigate the actions of this soldier