CHENNAI: Families today race against schedules to spend time with their kith and kin. Sandwiched between profession and family, there is a longing for love, happiness and bonding among kids. These were the sentiments articulated in the play Bharathi staged by Shraddha at Narada Gana Sabha on Monday. It was showcased on the sidelines of Children’s Day and the theatre group’s fourth anniversary.
Shraddha, which is a platform to train the younger generation in acting and technical stuff, has 70 to 80 students.
Bharathi is a Tamil version of Vijay Tendulkar’s Marathi play Bobby Chi Goshta. The rein of the entire play is in the hands of 10-year-old Bharathi, who laments about not having friends because of her tomboyish attitude, dressing and the name, which is typically a boy’s. However, one realises that this is not her actual cause of worry.
One gets on her train of thoughts to know the real problem, — the fact that her parents aren’t present, when she yearns for affection. Then she takes us through soliloquies of the agony and anguish she has undergone when she is left alone at home, with no friends to play with and dolls surrounding her.
She pretends to be the teacher of historical figures like Shivaji, Akbar and Birbal, asking them difficult questions and giving way to a lot of comic scenes, as they falter with the answers. Her other friends are Mickey, a clown, the moon goddess, horse, stunt man, angels from the water world and stars that happen to be a figment of her imagination. Despite their efforts to make her happy, they fail to bring her the happiness which she wants. The crux of the story is what makes a kid contented and it ends by showing that the parents are knocking on the door after they come from work and Bharati says this is what she craves for, the solace that she gets when she hugs her mother and sleeps and when she plays with her dada.
Everything from acting, dance, music, background to the UV lighting and others, the play brought forth memorable performances by the team. The music for the well-choreographed dance sequences sounded perfect and subtle, as it was composed by music composer Ramesh Vinayagam.
The story stands out for its relevance to society today, even 30 years after it was written.
