‘Devdas’ Staged At Gaiety

Though Production struggles to find the cultural ground yet It’s a play for masses

Shimla, Feb 14 Ritanjali Hastir

What could have been a better day to celebrate the famous and eternal tragic triangular love story of Devdas, Paro and Chandarmukhi than Valentine’s Day? Bang on the Gaiety Dramatic Society staged its third production ‘Devdas’ directed by Dhirendar Singh Rawat and managed to have almost a full house.

The marketing strategy of attracting an audience by the young artist, definitely deserves appreciation

The story of the play needs no introduction as Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas has been adapted on screen 20 times for film, therefore, raising the audience’s expectation and craving for a novel approach to the script.

The director of the play managed to keep audiences glued to their seats; a possible reason the child actors made their debut in the theatrical world. However, there was a clear struggle to find the cultural grounds as a mixture of Bengali culture definitely took a toll. However, the dance sequence at Chndarmukhi was a total drag that could have been easily avoided.

If the costume is considered for incidence only the red and white saree alone does not make one Bengali as it was dominant in the play.

Young Paro around the age of 8 to 10 is seen wearing a pola a bangle made of the conch shell which is worn by married women and though child marriage was in practice at that time; the character was nowhere married in the entire novel before her marriage to Thakur Bhuvan Chaudhry.

Pandit Chanchal from Kalibari Temple Shimla, talks about the significance of pola and what it means in Bangali culture

Talking about acting Chuni Babu stole the show with his acting. But unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the main leads, especially Chandrmukhi – one of the most dominating characters of the story failed to make an impression. Her entire performance throughout the play went flat without any emotional variation or voice modulation.  In her opening scene, she is sitting putting her feet right at the audience’s face. Devdas was an average performer with a lot of room for improvement.

Overall, it was an average production and paying Rs. 100 for the ticket will not pinch anyone for some time out from their routine life. There is no harm in calling it a play for the masses.