Feb 02, 2005 05:31 PM
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(Updated Feb 02, 2005 05:44 PM)
IFA(India Foundation for the Arts) brought Motley Production ''Katha Collage'' to Bangalore on Jan 22 and Jan 23, 2005. The show was at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall and I watched the play on Jan 23rd, Sunday.
Well, the first and the big thing about the play is ''Naseeruddin Shah''. He has directed the play and featured in the third story of the play.
And yup, that's the next interesting thing about the play. The format of the play is a collage of three stories enacted/narrated for the audience. I have seen this before with ''Ismat Apa Ke Naam'' which was again a Naseer play.
There are 2 stories of Munshi Premchand and one of Kaamtanath in Katha Collage. The stories reminded me of my high school Hindi Text books where there used to be such stories from famous writers. These lessons/stories, then, werent the most interesting ones to read and learn at that time.
But listening and watching similar stories in such a different setting (well after leaving school and its tedium behind), made for a great sunday evening fare.
The play synopsis can be found here - https://indiaifa.org/article.asp?id=511&viewtype=online.
I have watched quite a few plays and one thing I can say about productions such as this is that the basic quality of the production is very high. Aspects such as sound, light and the presentation quality is taken care of and the play makes for great entertainment. And having star names associated with a production means the big and beautiful of Bangalore turn out in substantial numbers and make for a colorful evening!
In Katha Collage, there are quite a few well known names and faces present. The music is by Vishal Bhardwaj ( music being most noticeable in Shatranj Ke Khiladi - the 2nd story of the set). I could recognize some of the actors - Ahmed Khan, Seema Pahwa and Jameel Khan from TV.
Jameel Khan was there in two of the 3 stories - Bade Bhaisaheb and Sankraman. In Sankraman, he plays Naseer's son and matches up to Naseer's histrionic abilities really really well.
In this play, I got to see Naseer's Son Imaaduddin Shah. He played the playful but brilliant younger brother in the first story ''Bade Bhaisaheb''. He did a fairly good job but I couldnt help but notice that he was the only one of the entire cast who fumbled on his lines - twice. :)
Ok, what about the play? Did I like it? Yes, because of the format of narrating and enacting stories. I liked watching Naseer act. That's the best treat about the play. The overall quality of everybody's acting, the attention to detail and continuity in acting sequences raised the quality of entire presentation. I also thought it was a great way to introduce some really good Indian literature to folks like me.
On the not so great side, I didnt like the final parts of ''Sankraman''. I am not sure if the story had the limitation or was it the staging - but the son's transition was rather abrupt.
Finally, watching good theatre in the form Katha Collage was a nice and refreshing change. Seeing a master like Naseeruddin Shah in action was pure delight.
Do catch the play in your city if it comes there. It makes for a worthwhile evening out.
