HYDERABAD: “O Raghunath, forgive me! Maa Vasundhari, take your daughter…” she cries, closing her eyes as the flames embrace her body. Yes, Ravana had held her captive in Lanka for long but for people to accuse her of being unfaithful, put her through the agnipariksha (fire test), and banish her from the Kingdom of Ayodhya…it was all too much. Now, no more. She’s gone.
“Sita! Now I won’t be able to live!” wails Lord Rama as he kneels helplessly, mourning his beloved Sita. Rahul Buchar masterfully evokes the grief of 2,100 people as he flawlessly essays Lord Rama on the Shilpakala Vedika stage. Directed by Gaurav Bhardwaj and unveiled by RNH events and Felicity Theatre, the play Humare Ram delves into some crucial scenes of Valmiki’s Ramayana.
We feel a melange of emotions as Luv and Kush (Krishna Rajput and Akashdeep Singh), broken by the loss of their mother Sita (Harleen Kaur Rekhi), hurl accusations at Rama, who bows his head. Valmiki (Sachin Joshi) tries to console him but to no avail.
But Lakshmana (Bhanu Pratap Singh), utterly loyal to his brother, summons Lord Surya (Karan Sharma), who uses his magical powers to visually show the twins—and a very eager audience—the truth about Rama and Sita.
A heavy background score and plumes of white smoke eerily herald the entrance of the ‘villain’. Heads turn all the way back to get a glimpse of the mighty Ravana, played by the brilliant Ashutosh Rana, who makes his way down the stairs of the auditorium as claps abound. This is the same audience that jives to the powerful Humare Ram title song! And oh, they clap even more as the actor himself sings Dum Dum Damroo for Lord Shiva (Tarun Khanna).
For the uninitiated, the Ramayana is essentially an ancient epic where Lord Rama, with the help of Lord Hanuman, rescues his wife Sita from the captivity of the Lankan King Ravana, who kidnaps her to take revenge after Rama’s brother Lakshmana ‘shuns’ Shoorpanaka, Ravana’s sister.
And oh my, what a stellar performance Deepti Kumar gave as Shoorpanaka! Distraught over Ravana murdering her husband, Shoorpanaka stealthily stacks the odds against the King—we nearly fall out of our seats in laughter as she dramatically beckons the court and king to take revenge. “Mein ghaayal hoon, mein apmaanit hoon!” she comically cries.
And here the play very skillfully introduces the modern concept of double standards. While Ravana sets out to uphold his sister’s ‘honour’, he also takes the ‘honour’ of a dasi (servant). Lord Rama walks up to attendees and says, “If a purush (man) marries 10 women he is praised but if a stree (woman) looks at even one man she is admonished,” eliciting loud claps and cheers from the audience.
Away from the polar opposites of righteousness and evil, Lord Hanuman (Danish Akhtar) merrily waltzes in with his gada (mace) and gravity-defying tail. Endearing himself to a sceptical Lakshmana through song and dance, he instantly wins all our hearts too. Indeed, the melodies in Humare Ram are powerful yet playful, thanks to Bollywood playback maestros Kailash Kher, Shankar Mahadevan and Sonu Nigam.
So when Rama and Hanuman embrace, the crowd goes absolutely wild. But one scene stands out: After they win the war, Rama tells a very reluctant Lakshmana to get wisdom from the dying ‘vidwan’ (guru) Ravana. After giving Lakshmana his wisdom, Ravana says his last words: ‘Har Har Mahadev!’ Oh, the end of an era. A powerful, heartfelt performance indeed.
Speaking to CE, Rahul Buchar says he is overwhelmed with Hyderabad’s love for the epic and performance. “We made this play for young children to teach them about the epic. I mean, with such good graphics, we thought this play would draw more children to learn about the Ramayana,” he adds.
Ashutosh Rana reveals to CE, “I enjoyed playing Ravana and I believe people also enjoyed the performance. I have done many Telugu films too so I simply love performing in Hyderabad.”
We waltzed in to watch a simple Ramayana play but gave standing ovations and trailed out over three hours later, with a massive appreciation of the actors, who so flawlessly brought ancient characters to life in Hyderabad…wow, wow and just wow.