Getting it Rite

Actor Chandrakant Kalersquos Facebook page flashed a happy post ldquoMahanirvan turns 40 I was 23 when I essayed its central character Bhaurao I am 63 now As I look back I remember the first houseful show in 1974 at Punersquos Bharat Natya Mandir which instantly turned me into a popular singeractor and strengthened my connection with experimental theatreThe play gave me a backbone and helped me to fight against my personal odds my resourcepoor backgroundrdquo Social media users of all age brackets responded to Kalersquos celebratory momentSome of the responses were reminiscences of watching Kale on stage whereas some were laments about missing the glorious lsquo70s in the history of Maharashtrarsquos performing artsThe original Mahanirvan with actor r Chandrakant KaleKalersquos reminiscences brought back another set of memories associated with Mahanirvanrsquos 25th anniversary in 1999 the year when it was revitalised with the original cast Mumbairsquos Yashwantrao Chavan auditorium hosted a felicitation of its playwright Satish Alekar who was then heading the Centre for Performing Arts University of PunePlaywright Satish AlekarThe audience was treated to the Konkani avatar of the play presented by the Panajibased Kalashuklendu group This version as against the original one had a shorter duration But it did justice to Alekarrsquos ironical story of an insignificant Bhaurao whose postdeath plea to be immolated in a closeddown crematorium leads his son Nana to bribe authoritiesMahanirvanrsquos world of cultural connections in a tomeEven with a basic understanding of Konkani one could get the point Alekar was making about a ritualridden hypocritical Brahmin setting where the last wishes of a man are meant to be revered whereas a young widowrsquos desires are destined to be unaddressedThe book cover of Collected Works of Satish AlekarThe chawl set in the story was wellimbibed in the Konkani production that curious gossipmongering neighbourhood is a familiar feature in any Indian milieu he playrsquos sutradhar is the dead Bhauraorsquos soulThe soul dictates his wishes and the mourners follow the orders The keertan and gondhal art forms are used as musical devices to take the narrative forward The original cast was blessed with singeractor Kale who was made for the role envisioned by the playwrightHowever all productions of Mahanirvan did not necessarily have actors with similar talents For instance the Konkani version used the playback technique The Panaji group adopted the Moche Madkari style of presentation in which all actors and singers are present on the stage throughout the playThe actor playing the Konkani Bhaurao therefore could fall back on the singers to depict the dead soul who refuses to depart unless cremated in a certain mannerTomb truthThe 1999 felicitation ceremony was an opportunity to listen to the maker of Mahanirvan who had penned the classic at the age of 24 It was a close encounter with a playwright who wrote his debut play when he had minimal stage experience as a college actor and a volunteer of Punersquos Progressive Dramatic AssociationThe debutantersquos a postgraduate in biochemistry antiestablishment take on the lower middleclass Brahmin Pune shook the intellectual discourse of the times Even after the passage of 25 years the appeal of Alekarrsquos Mahanirvan showed in the eclectic voices that evaluated the play in a closed auditorium space for an entire dayThe most memorable of those presentations was that of critic Rekha Inamdar Sane who was also the editor of commemorative volume in Marathi Mahanirvan Sameeksha Ani Samsmarane encapsulating Mahanirvanrsquos journey Very rarely are Indian plays archived showcased and honoured in the way Mahanirvan has been in this volumeFrom the first performance in which Alekar played Nana each detail about the playrsquos production history has been captured The English volume brought out by the Oxford University Press also showcases Mahanirvanrsquos English version Noted theatre critic Samik Bandyopadhyayrsquos preface to the play makes a pertinent point ldquoThe topsyturvydom of Alekarrsquos universe is a metaphor for the sheer anarchy of values and desires that marks the rise of the new PunerdquoLiterature landmarkMahanirvanrsquos trajectory has witnessed a convergence of rich talents Its English translation was rendered by the iconic litterateur Gauri Deshpande whereas its Hindi avatar was shaped by lyricistwriter Vasant Dev Devrsquos translation was twice mounted by groups in New DelhiFamous TV actor Vinod Nagpal essayed Bhaurao in the Abhiyan version Bhopalrsquos Rangmandal also produced the Hindi play in which noted thespian B V Karanth played Bhaurao Mahanirvan saw an apt reflection in Rajasthani Punjabi Gujarati and Bengali tooMahanirvan is a muchfeted play Despite its irreverent theme it has lived in the collective consciousness of Indian theatregoers of course the ones that subscribe to the experimental space The playrsquos enduring appeal demonstrates the power and audacity of of Indian theatre to communicate a worldview that has limited takersUnlike any other art form the intense focus of theatre is on human being and human nature has a legitimate space for introspection and examination Mahanirvan speaks to that remedial space where people confront their real selves and question the rites and rituals they perfunctorily follow What else can explain the long life of a play based on deathSumedha RaikarMhatre is a Mumbaibased cultural chronicler