Sex, morality and censorship. Don’t these three words still make us cringe and raise our eyebrows in the conventional mode of society that we exist? The latest offering by Arpana, a theatre group, questions and explores the issue of censorship in society, more so in theatre and films. Directed by Sunil Shanbag, developed by Shanta Gokhale and Irawati Karnik, S*x, M*rality And Cens*rship compels you to give these ideas a thought from different perspectives. Using the immortal character of Sakharam Binder as the backdrop of the play, it explains the development of theatre from the controversial and challenging ’70s, through the ’80s, which brought a lull and finally the modern day hypocrisy.

Sakharam Binder, Vijay Tendulkar’s classic, had created a storm in the early 70s for its unconventional and bold script. The censor board had come down heavily on the play creating a controversy which stood for a revolution of a society fighting the set conventions in the society. Sakharam, who was the master of his life and refused to be dictated by others, had a life full of alcohol, abuses and different women walking in and out of his life. What strikes and sets him apart is his endearing honesty, passion and extremely genuine and frank demeanour. Whether it is his ego challenged by the docile Laxmi or the taken-advantage-of factor by ravenous Champa, Sakharam impresses the audience.

But why choose Sakharam Binder as the backdrop? "Because of what happened to him, the attack from the state government and the controversy surrounding it", says Shanbag. He says that Sakharam represented a threat to the society in many ways. "He stood out among the rest and didn’t stick to the mainstream ideas of the society," explains Sunil. The play showcases the evolution and development of theatre in a theatrical mode which is quite unique. It is a flashback of sorts where a Shahir (a tamasha poet rancouteur) along with a tamasha dancer is chosen to weave a story about the censorship that was slowly developing into a hydra-headed demon and examine the changing outlook towards tamasha in the recent years. Irawati Karnik who developed the play along with Shanta Gokhale says, "It all began with this audio-visual that we had created which traced the theatre maestro Satyadev Dubey’s journey which included a lot of development that took place in the theatre through the 70s and the 80s." Few months later with a lot of research and study, Sunil along with Irawati and Shanta explored the idea which culminated into this play.

It develops and raises standard questions about the idea of censorship and how the word has actually been misused and abused the forms of creativity. The play had been granted many temporary certificates of performances after a lot of rigorous efforts and legal interventions and every time after a houseful show it emerged successful in the early ’70s and ’80s. Even the Shiv Sainiks had created fracas and stopped one of the screenings. And then Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had stopped the ramifications after watching it once and said that there was nothing objectionable.

A lot of sarcastic undertones on the hypocrisy that exists in the society at large makes it enjoyable and thought provoking at the same time. It traces the story of Sakharam Binder’s struggle against the rules of society. There are anecdotes to highlight the woes of tamasha artists where Lok Sabha should be called "Folk Sabha" for obvious reasons. The depiction of the 70s is brilliant which stood for the rebellion times of the society. It was the time for sex, rock ‘n’ roll, drugs, confrontations and Sakharam Binder has just found ground in those days. "For the obvious reasons of change, revolution that 70s stood for is an evident choice of period," says Shanbag. The play also in a way also tries to bring a different perspective to the position of Tamasha dancers whose dignity had been marred over the years due to the existing moral code "double standards" in the society. What went missing was the appreciation of the tamasha art instead of the ridiculing and pulling it down. There was and still is a certain sense of cynicism that exist in the society around us with respect to these issues. The irony is that even this play has received a temporary certificate of one month for screenings by the censor board. "They want to be cautious. It is a wait and watch situation," he says.

Ipsitaa Paingrahi