The troupe of Atul Yadav – Swarn Rangmandal, regaled the audience once again at NCZCC, Alalhabad today evening with the staging of the adaptation- in the nautanki form- of the Premchand classic – Panch Parmeshwar. The troupe has had an international experience and has done quite a bit to establish the nautanki form of drama on the international stage.
The nautanki is a north Indian form of the folk theatre genre and is characterized by dialogues in rhymes interspersed with dance and songs, tumbrel being the chief musical instrument. Premchand’s stories never have had a truly psychological critique, as far as I know. This has always intrigued me as to how one of the greatest story tellers has never been tried to be analyzed on the emotional and psychological aspects. Panch Parmeshwar in my view is not a story of mere good/evil, or change of heart of a character. It is the exploration of the psyche of a judge, psyche of any responsible person in the society, the social codes of living and their effect on our decisions and, this is what that makes it a great work of art , one that traverses time and space.
I must say the nautanki style normally is not suited to express the psychological aspect of a story, but then the unique characters in every of Atul’s plays- the sutradhar, the nat & nati- perform this role of commenting on the goings-on just like the chorus in the Shakespearean dramas. The stage-background gave a rural ambience to the drama and, music and light coordinated well with the actions on stage. Kudos to the troupe’s performance.
Skand Shukla
The nautanki is a north Indian form of the folk theatre genre and is characterized by dialogues in rhymes interspersed with dance and songs, tumbrel being the chief musical instrument. Premchand’s stories never have had a truly psychological critique, as far as I know. This has always intrigued me as to how one of the greatest story tellers has never been tried to be analyzed on the emotional and psychological aspects. Panch Parmeshwar in my view is not a story of mere good/evil, or change of heart of a character. It is the exploration of the psyche of a judge, psyche of any responsible person in the society, the social codes of living and their effect on our decisions and, this is what that makes it a great work of art , one that traverses time and space.
I must say the nautanki style normally is not suited to express the psychological aspect of a story, but then the unique characters in every of Atul’s plays- the sutradhar, the nat & nati- perform this role of commenting on the goings-on just like the chorus in the Shakespearean dramas. The stage-background gave a rural ambience to the drama and, music and light coordinated well with the actions on stage. Kudos to the troupe’s performance.
Skand Shukla
