Reviving a forgotten story
BENGALURU: As part of their year-long theatre festival, city-based theatre group Vedike Foundation is bringing to stage Aasphota, penned by acclaimed Kannada actor, screenwriter and director TN Seetharam. Drawing its inspiration from the anti-emergency sentiments of the ’70s, Aasphota explores an idealist’s disillusionment with politics. “The main reason we chose to bring this play back is because it is a forgotten gem,” shares Ritwik Simha, director of Aasphota and co-founder of Vedike.
“It’s been nearly 35 years since this has been last produced on stage. So, two generations of Kannada theatre audiences have not seen this play,” says Simha, who feels that the issues that the play highlights are experienced even today. “The fight for the environment, workers’ rights and the impact of corrupt practices are still relevant,” he adds.
The story is of a young idealistic man named Shiva Prasad, who becomes a union leader after witnessing first-hand corruption, ill-treatment and exploitation of a factory owner. Aasphota explores one-man’s fight against a corrupt system. It explores Shiva Prasad’s disillusionment when his mentor, a local union leader-turned-politician, becomes indifferent to issues of workers after gaining power. This pivotal moment marks the shattering of Shiva Prasad’s idealistic views, his disillusionment, and anger emerges in him.
Given that the play was written during a different era in Indian history, Simha says the adaptation has been altered to make it more relevant to today’s audiences.
“We have edited some of its dated portions. But the values, the fight for those values, about the environment, about rights and regulations, all those things that he talks about, stay as they are, and that immediately connects to everybody,” he adds.
Among the play’s highlights is an intricate party sequence that runs for approximately 30 minutes. This visually-captivating scene showcases the diverse characters and their exploitative nature, masked under a facade of compassion. “These portions made it very tough to direct.
At the same time, because the play is talking about so many issues, if it’s not presented in an energetic and entertaining way, it becomes very dry,” Simha explains, adding Aasphota will be especially relevant to socially conscious younger audiences. “Anybody who has any kind of social consciousness will connect with the play. They will take away the values we discuss and the individual’s fight for a better world. When we end the play, there is a lot of positivity and energy that anyone would carry with them,” he concludes.
I wrote during the anti-emergency movement. I was inspired by one of my experiences. I don’t expect people to take away any message from it. Just have an entertaining time, supporting good theatre. – TN Seetharam