Habib Tanvir and Charandas Chor

Kanhailal called him and Badal Sircar the only two rebels of post-independance theatre, who broke away from the proscenium style of the western world and converted theatre into an entertainment for the masses; his creation Charandas Chor is a delight to watch because it brings to us a form of theatre which blends all the elements of the western and eastern traditions and comes up with a unique artistic style that reminds one of the dry hinterlands of central India and the sounds that travel for miles over the grassy plains.

He has used the traditional theatrical method of telling a story through a series of narrations given by minstrels through songs sung in Chattisgarhi. The play itself is dialogue oriented but the design helps the audience who don't know the language to understand the play through the language of theatre. The story proceeds at break-neck speed, each sequence having a simple design. Yet within this simple design can one catch a glimpse of the unique perspective behind the vision. For eg. the temple scene in which we see the villagers and the pujari engaged in a puja. The mandap is designed diagonally from down to upstage, all the performers facing the audience. The tension in the scene though starts at extreme upstage when Charandas comes into the temple and hides within the crowd of villagers and the constable chases him helplessly. The perspective itself adds an extreme amount of depth to the scene - the audience is positioned in such a manner that it doesn't miss even a bit of the parody happening onstage. The humor is heightened by the complete absence of dialogues and subtle physical acting, the atmosphere of tension intensified by the music and the presence of a crowd on stage. The actual god/goddess is invisible...the perspective being an almost cinematic one - "camera in the face".

There are several other scenes as such that increase the very magnitude of the stage itself while Charandas Chor is being performed. One of the most important elements being light. This is probably pone of the most primary elements of Habib Tanvir's theatre that makes it a blend of the procenium and third-theatre styles. Light is used beautifully to create zones within zones and for highlighting within an area filled with light - craft that I had before this only read in Tapas Sen's articles, but actually never seen before this. Again I am reminded of the temple scene due to the perfection of light operation in it. But I must say that compared to this scene the light design in the palace scene with the queen was a little bland i.e. not as interesting.

Culturally we live in a very enriched nation, where the very versatility of different regions makes the native store for inspiration almost inexhasutible. It is this store that Tanvir saab has used very masterfully in designing the costumes -bright pastel colours are worn by all except Charandas, who always wears an off-white costume - technically this contrast highlights him out even in crowd scenes. The Rani's costume is kept brialliantly non-glamorous and yet made royal by the use of specific color and fabric.

The concept of the set is brilliant...almost nothing changes throughout the play and the audience's mind too is given ample space for imagination.

Ravilal Sangde performed as the good-hearted, a little ill-tempered constable, a role previously performed by Habib sahab himself. In my untrained eyes, he was flawless. Tiny gestures like rubbing the biri on his uniform before handing it over, restraint like not lolling his head while sleeping on the temple parapet, it is this quality of performance that lifts the play into a completely different level of professionalism. Chaitram's portrayal of Charandas seemed to have been highly influenced by Raghuvir Yadav's on-screen antics. I would like to believe that I am wrong in this assumption. Nagina Tanvir seemed a little off colour on stage - she seemed to have a problem with her voice.

The play itself is a brilliant sarcasm on the cultural condition in India - our hypocrisies regarding, politics, economics and religion. A sign of a classic - that very grave problems are brought forward in a very simple manner. The production is classy not in design but in execution, it is always a delight to watch a technically brilliant piece of theatre.

Hopefully, the legacy of Habib Tanvir will be carried forward like a beacon by those he has left in charge of protection of his ideals. We live in difficult times, we are both ultra-modern and utterly orthodox and conservative. We eat at McDonald's but cannot sit on the carpet and eat from the same bowl as our Muslim friends. We wear mini-skirts and low-waist jeans and yet do not let go of the hundred rings given to us by our astrologer. We agree with pre-marital sex but cannot imagine the person we marry to be a non-virgin. It is in these difficult times filled with self-contradictions and hypocrisy that a story like this can help a few amongst us to view ourselves from a different perspective with the finger pointed towards ourselves. The joke is on us people, have a laugh!