If theatre shows the reality of life in a conflict zone, if it mirrors the actual story of a people, it becomes popular among them. No matter what the theme of a play is, if it exhibits the prevalent social discourse, people accept it.
For those who claim that folk theatre and its popularity in Kashmir is waning, a young independent theatre director and filmmaker from the Valley, Arshad Mushtaq, said, “People want to be mirrored in theatre. If a play does not show what is going on around them, why would anyone watch it?”
Mushtaq’s play Wattepaed (Footprints) has been selected for the International Theatre Festival, Bharangam-2012, organised by the NSD in New Delhi. The play presents political realities of the Valley and blends neo-realistic form of theatre with traditional social satire called Bande Pather.
Owing to the first person attachment of people to the reality of conflict, if what they see for real is what they see in a play, the acceptability of the medium of communication is high.
“At its inception, Band Pather was all about questioning the power centres. Nowadays popular entertainment does not show what is going on. If theatre chooses topics like AIDS, child abuse, why not conflict?” he said.
The team of the play includes veteran Yousuf Shahnaz, versatile Rajinder Tickoo with Ashraf Nagoo, Mir Sarwar, Riyaz Mir, Malik Mushtaq and Ubaid Safapori besides others who equally contributed to its success.
Besides Wattepaed, Mushtaq has also directed a play Su Yee and Kashmiri film Akh Daleel Loolech.
Wattepaed revolves around a small village, where a message from the king shatters the villagers’ beliefs, but the fear of punishment stops them from raising a cry. Despite this, an old man decides to disobey. When he returns, the villagers try to persuade him against telling anybody about what he did the night before. However, he hands himself over to the soldiers and says “I have done the duty of the God. Everybody deserves a proper burial.”
“It took me two-and-a-half day to write the play. If your work is good, it stands out. It is a great experience to see your play being a part of the NSD festival...as many people who actually know theatre, see your work and appreciate it,” Mr Mushtaq said.
NSD’s annual festival, where the play will be staged in January, is acknowledged as the largest theatre festival of Asia dedicated solely to theatre where national and international productions are staged.