Kannada version of well-known dramatist and theatre activist Habib Tanvir’s play of the same name, did not falter at any stage.
The genre of Habib Tanvir known is for pro-people struggle and streetplay tradition, the play, right from the time the play opens to a vigorous dance by the troupe, it takes the audience through some hilarious moments and the banter between the walrus moustached police and the thief Charan Das, the protagonist of the play, who manages to trick him every time to escape, is so well done that it leaves one asking for more.
Charan Das, a village bumpkin, is a professional thief who takes a vow before a seer that he will never lie, and some other promises which he declares he will not violate. Being a dreamer, he dreams big and never in his wildest imagination believes that they could all become true one day.
Political tamasha
Here, is where the satire begins, when the way the events unfold relate to the political tamasha that is happening in our own state at present.
Using the examples in the present day context, at every step, the way the politicians break their promise, the mutts interference, the seers clamour for followers and power, and above all the eternal conflict that Charan Das is caught between truth and lies is very powerfully brought about.
Perfection
Each and every actor on the stage has played his or her part to precisely starting from Charan Das. ‘Natana,’ the organisation behind the play, has managed to choose the right actor for the right part and in fact a couple of them don more than two or three roles.
What is most intriguing is that the majority of the actors are amateurs who have taken to the theatre for sheer passion.
That is how we find even a carpenter, a mason and a plumber donning roles and that too to perfection.
Whether it is the teacher in real life, who almost surpasses Keshto Mukherjee as a drunkard or the beggar who makes us believe that he is really one, the Rani who is a very young girl showing her acting skills admirably or her ‘sakhi’ whose swaying hip shaking movements never fails to evoke laughter and the list can go on.
Ending
The play ends with an intimate theatre feeling, as the director Mandya Ramesh poses questions to the audience about the ending they want and depicts them accordingly.
Though the theatre was cramped, as it was a full house and there was not much moving space, nothing mattered as there was never a dull moment.
Do not miss it for anything next time Chor Charan Das is staged, as it leaves you reflecting on life and makes you search for answers.