Little was not impressive in the National School of Drama Repertory Company’s latest production Hamara Shahar Us Baras, directed by Kirti Jain based on a novel by Geetanjali Shree. The content is not uncommon; communal unrest in a small town. It is the treatment of the theme, which is fresh and dramatic. The concept of a marriage between a Hindu and Muslim is not unusual, particularly when the man is a professor and the woman is a writer; it is the characterisation, as written, interpreted and performed, that makes the difference. The set, as designed by Shantanu Bose, is a versatile piece that stretches across the stage and is used as a railway platform in the opening scene, a bridge in the city where the mobs scream for Hanif’s blood. A portion down left is Shruti and Hanif’s apartment, which is demarcated by lit-up window and a creeper, going down on the side of the stairs leading to the stage level. In the right centre is a huge square air mattress with a telephone on an old-fashioned stand down stage. This is the abode of Daddu the property owner, a man of indeterminate age with whom his son Sharad, Hanif’s friend and colleague, lodges. Hanif and Shruti’s are also Daddu’s tenants. Both the areas are well used. In fact, the design changes with the actor’s brisk movements, giving the performance energy and momentum. It is this momentum that carries the play on wings to the formal denouement. The play moves swiftly between home and college. Hanif is a very popular teacher. And the students adore him for giving them personal help and advice. It is a sad day when the students turn against him with one gesture and the way he utters the word “students“ Manish Kumar conveys the entire gamut of emotions that assail Hanif. The tension outside with the growing militancy of the Matth depicted by the increase in the spears and staffs set out upstage, the shouting on the streets and the real changes in attitude in the people in the department affects the three friends.
On the one hand, there is Hanif defying the difference between him and best buddy Sharad and rebelling at the idea of representing his community, on the other are Sharad and Shruti’s shared guilt at belonging to the majority, of their over protectiveness, which bugs Hanif no end. The growing apart of Sharad and Hanif is measured out in small subtle gestures by Manish and Ajit Singh Palawat as Sharad. They meet in the department after Sharad is declared head over Hanif’s seniority. The coldness between the two marks the end of their friendship or so it seems. Sharad’s reluctance to take over as head is played very thoughtfully by Ajit, as the staff comes and congratulates him.
Daddu, as enacted by Jagannath Seth, is a delightful man who has lived through India’s freedom struggle. As a secularist, he is one with the three young people, but his brand of secularism, as he illustrates through an incident that occurred at just such a time as now during the India’s fight for freedom is different. He says his brand of secularism is one that both believes in and celebrates the difference. Daddu is not moved by the phone calls or threatening letters. He receives asking him to throw out Hanif. In the end when the mob comes looking for Hanif only he and Shruti’s are in the house. The mob has cut off the electricity — it is dark. Coming centre downstage, Daddu roars and draws them to himself saying he is the person they are looking for. The throng mistakes him for Hanif and in the presence of Shruti lynches him. The psychedelic effect of the hoard attacking a man in white clothes was effective as was the entire light design by Gautam Majumdar.
Ipshita Chakraborty, as sutradhar/writer, is both witness and participant. She plays a lively inquisitive girl who skips around the stage, taking notes, noting dialogues, stopping to chitchat with the cast. It is another novel aspect of the play, which is one of the best seen on how such riots can affect relationships betw-een people having different faiths. Well acted by the entire cast, the credit for the excellence of the production goes to director Kirti Jain and writer Geetanjali Shree.