Khardaha Dwisattik’s Dhusar Otit – commendable job very well done

 Khardaha Dwisattik’s Dhusar Otit – a commendable job very well done

In these times of great intolerance where one faces a peculiar urge to present a play in unnecessary grandiosity with lots of acrobatic feats and gimmickry with lights and sets, and pushing the drama text or the acting element to the back seat, it certainly becomes a very pleasant experience on the part of the viewers when you are made to sit up and watch an almost perfect production unfolding on the stage, and that too in a work by a greenhorn group. Yes, it was a very rewarding experience watching Khardaha Dwisattik present Dhusar Otit (The Gray Past), a play written and directed by Prasun Banerjee at Minerva Theatre.

The play is about the lumpen-ruled anarchic times of Bengal of the 70s of the last century. The script is crispy, taut and slim with no extra trusses nor with any loose ends. The play is thus tuned perfectly to touch the higher chords to reach the intermittent crescendos that give the play its character. At the centre of the story is a political party reared ruffian who has his eyes on the daughter of a retired teacher. He announces that though he is a worshipper of ‘Asia’s Mukti Surya’, purported to be Indira Gandhi, he in fact belongs to that class who takes the shape of the container they are poured into. And he also declares whoever is in power, the backbone of their strength is them, only. For those who have had their slices of experience of the turbulent days of the 70s do find the play authentic, or as Tagore had said about his Rakta Karabi (Red Oleanders), ‘truthful’. And for the younger generations of the spectators the play would be equally engrossing for its crispness. Bereft of any melodrama the dialogues of the characters, too, have no extra tidings. The characters are also very well defined.            

In the making of the play Banerjee has been very cautious not to lessen the tempo in its progression towards the climax which has a surprise stored for the viewers. The last scene where the playwright-maker plays a game with the spectator is very well crafted. A few theatrical elements like the silent acting in the background, or the re-entries of the lout, or for that matter a very quick change of dress by the mother to show a change of time, have very neatly executed.

But the mainstay of the production is the impeccable acting of all the members. Sumit Kumar Roy’s acting acumen has been repeatedly being proved and he has compelled the viewers to take note of this. He restrained himself in many a place by simply applying his cerebral faculty, to tread into over doing his part and make it a typical ‘cinematic villain’. He also is credited as the ‘creative director’ of the production. The veteran thespian Aruna Mukhopadhyay’s helpless mother will remain in the minds of the viewers. This actress has remained in the wings as if, though having given us so many performances since long. This shows our lack of the power of appreciation, of course. Banerjee himself was in the role of the protesting father. But Nibedita Bhattacharya has astounded the spectator by her stellar performance as the daughter. Her subdued expressions in the climactic scene have made the viewer to sit up and take notice.  

Abhijit Acharya’s aptly scored music and Bablu Sarkar’s minimalistic lights with Neel Kaushik’s time-identifying sets have contributed immensely to the success of the production. Kudos is due to Banerjee for his dress designing which marks the era of the 70s immaculately.