Artist during rehearsal | photo credit: special arrangement
Telugu theater lovers who enjoy musical theater are in for a treat. Hyderabad based B-Studio brings to you MahanirvanamTelugu adaptation of classic Marathi play Mahanirvana (The Last Journey After Death), written by playwright Satish Alekar in 1974. Directed by Sheikh John Basheer, the 120-minute, two-act adaptation in Telugu is a dark comedy with 22 actors, nine songs and dances. While Ananthu Chintalapalli composed the music and wrote the lyrics, Venkat Gowda did the Telugu translation of the dialogues from the original.
Sheikh John Basheer | photo credit: special arrangement
The story begins with the death of villager Babu Rao and his family is in mourning. As the last rites are being performed, the villagers around the family start eating, packing the non-vegetarian dishes into tiffin carriers to be carried away, and dancing and playing diacritics To spend time. They make it like a celebration. The drama throws light on the nuances of human relations even as it throws light on contemporary issues like GST and privatization of public enterprises.
“It is fascinating to see how the screenplay deals with death and its rituals with a touch of satire; Though it was written in the 70s, the issues are still relevant,” says Basheer, who was looking for a bigger production that could cast two batches of actors.
Rehearsal in the studio | photo credit: special arrangement
In theatre, Basheer says, music is a means of connecting different layers in a production. “Our theater group puts on a play every two months and since this was the company’s 150th show, we wanted the stage to be alive with music and dance.”
The creative process began with the cast building their performance through studio techniques during rehearsals in July. The group act in Manikonda reverberated with the studio music as the 22 actors sang “ Ninna manaku ledura, repu manadi kadura, unnatlo manchi penchi padhimandiki panchara, kirti, kanta, kanakalu mana venta ravura…”
The play has also been slightly tweaked for the Telugu audience. “We have added the non-vegetarian food element, as is served during funerals in some Telugu communities; We are not using the original songs but have conceptualized the songs in a new context.”
Mahanirvanam It is also a wish fulfilled for Basheer, who had hoped to direct such a micro-drama since his MA (Theatre Arts) days at Hyderabad Central University in 2007. Mahanirvana. I hoped someday to do full drama; That wish has now come true after 14 years.
Mahanirvanam will be staged at Rangbhoomi Space in Gachibowli on September 18 at 4 pm and 8 pm; Tickets: ₹300 at the venue.