CAMPUS HISTORICAL DRAMA UNFOLDS ON STAGE
Set against the backdrop of newly independent India, this women-centric play has a hard-hitting narrative
The premiere of the play Agnipankh had audiences in awe, thanks to its gripping storyline and powerhouse actors. Directed by Ganesh Yadav, the play is a historical drama set in newly independent India. The protagonist, Durgeshwari, or Baisaab, is a wealthy Brahmin woman who runs her zamindari household with an iron fist. She takes all decisions in the house, including ones that involve property, finances, and even the personal lives of her family members to make up for her husband Raosaab’s inability to look after the family. As a consequence, her responsibilities result in her drifting away from her duties as a mother and wife. However, after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, trouble begins to brew and Baisaab faces the possibility of giving up everything that she has sacrificed her life for.
A RIVETING EXPERIENCE
Yadav says, “Originally a Marathi production, the play is written by the late Prabhakar Laxman Mayekar. It was a three-hour long play performed some 30 to 40 years ago. It’s a story about Baisaab and Raosaab’s lives. The play is based in 1948, with postpartition [India] and the Gandhi assassination as a backdrop. Baisaab is a beautiful, intelligent and strong woman, and at the same time, she is shrewd too.”
The play also highlights the Dalit-Brahmin conflict. The director says, “It’s an extremely well-written play with [clearly] defined characters. It is an out-andout commercial play with great dialogues, various twists and turns in the script, and surprise elements. It has the capability to captivate the audience as they watch the play.”
The play has a strong cast, with Mita Vashisht and Satyajit Sharma playing the lead roles. Yadav says, “They are both amazing actors. It will be a treat for the audience to watch them perform live. The script and the dialogues are the real heroes of this play. Even after the translation, the essence has been preserved and the punch is still there.” The other actors in the play are Gulki Joshi, Prasad Jawade, Raksha Shetty, Somesh Agarwal and Dinkar Gawande.
Speaking about what made him choose Vashisht to play the lead in Agnipankh, the director says, “I have been following Mita’s work for some time now. When I read this script for the first time, her face popped up in my mind for this character. And when we approached Mita for this role, she was blown away by the script and she readily said, ‘Let’s do it’.”
MASTERS AT WORK
Vashisht’s is a popular name in the world of theatre and cinema. Talking about her c character in the play, the actor says, “Baisaab is an extraordinary woman. She’s a powerful autocrat, a smart business woman and is proud and conscious of her lineage, responsibilities, values and ethics. And yet, in her stormy relationship with her husband, she is as vulnerable as a teenage girl who has fallen in love for the first t time. I love this play and every single character in it. It has great content and is w written well.”
Although it is set in 1 1948, do the struggles of Baisaab somehow still connect with today’s women? “Yes, it’s an irony of how the struggles resonate even today. These issues still persist in villages. Baisaab’s character makes you respect all women for their strength and resolve,” says the director.
So, how does Vashisht connect with the protagonist of the play? “I started acting from a very young age. I have always worked on my own terms from the time I was very young. I am vocal about things that I consider non-negotiable, and I do call a spade a spade… no matter who it is or where it is.”
Vashisht has explored other mediums too, such as TV and cinema, and has proved her acting prowess time and again. “I am lucky that I have done some fantastic work in all the three mediums. I love each one — cinema immortalises me, TV makes millions [of people] love me, and theatre makes sure there is no fat that accumulates on my body or my soul.”