Satna: Until two years ago, there was hardly any theatre activity in Kakalpur village, Satna district, Madhya Pradesh.
Now, this small village is known for an annual theatre festival named ‘Unjiyar Kala Mahotsav’, organised since last year by Pratyasha Lok and Sanskriti Pravartan Samiti.
The festival is the brainchild of Ajay Dahiya.
Informing about how the festival started, Dahiya, the director of the festival and secretary of Pratyasha Lok and Sanskriti Pravartan Samiti, said he and Mansi Shivhare were shocked to see the youths of the village were indulging in anti-social activities. They then decided to do something to wean the youths away from their bad habits.
They decided to start a theatre festival involving the youths. Thus the festival was born.
This year was the second edition of the ‘Unjiyar Kala Mahotsav’, a five-day affair witnessing a participation of around 300 artistes.
As there is no auditorium in the locality, like last year, the organisers put up a stage and a tent for the audience.
On June 11, the first day of the festival, painting and sculpture competitions were held among children. The participants showcased their talents.
“What we are doing is just sowing a seed in the children. One day, it will germinate, grow into a huge tree and provide shade, without fail.
The second evening commenced with the lighting of lamp and then presentation of National Annadaata Samman. This year, Padma Shri recipient Babulal Dahiya was awarded.
Thereafter, the team of Lokrang Samiti, Satna started the festival with Bagheli Rang Sangeet under the direction of Mrs. Savita Dahiya. The Rang Sangeet adorned with Bagheli rituals captivated the audience. Thereafter, the play Basman Mama was presented by Rang Pravartan Sanskriti Samiti under the direction of Prabhakar Dwivedi who came from Bhopal. Through the play, the group sent out a message about the conservation of environment. The second play Mahatma Baikal Das, written by Dr. Pradeep Banerjee and directed by Rajesh Kumar Shukla of Panchwati Rewa Samiti, gave the message of removing superstition and considering parents as God.
All the participants were honored with mementoes and medals.
On the third evening, after the customary lighting the lamp ceremony, senior theatre artiste Shri Anand Mishra from Bhopal was honoured with the Rangdakshina Samman. Next, a play ‘Puran Chaur’ by Saghan Society for Cultural and Welfare, Bhopal, was staged. A Bagheli adaptation, it was written by Dayaprakash Sinha was conceptualized by Shivendra Singh and directed by Anand Mishra. Thereafter, the people of the village were made to practice Sahaja Yoga Kriya. In the end, the child artistes of Kakalpur performed the play, “Satya ki Pariksha”, written and directed by Ajay Dahiya, which kept the audience captivated and hooked to their seats.
The play was about Raja Harishchandra and his truthfulness.
One day, a question arises in the court of Indralok that who is the one who follows the path of truth in every situation and is also the most truthful person. Then Rishi Vashishth praises his disciple Raja Harishchandra of Ayodhya by calling him truthful. This angers Vishwamitra and he becomes eager to test Harishchandra’s truthfulness. Going to give the test of his truthfulness, he loses everything including his kingdom. He has to wander from door to door. He even has to sell himself along with his wife and son
On the concluding evening, after the lighting the lamp ceremony, the National Guru Dakshina Samman was presented to Anoop Singh Chauhan. However, he wasn’t present at the festival as his mother had passed away.
The cultural evening started with the child artistes of Praptyasha group performing a dance on the Bagheli Belanhai song, then the artistes of the group Kishan Dahiya presented a folk song, after which the play Shri Ram Ke Kevat Aur Nishad was presented by Sampreshna Natya Manch Katni under the direction of Yogesh Tiwari, in which Shri Ram was moved by the friendship of Nishadraj and the innocence of Kevat.
The play depicted how Lord Shri Ram made small people like Kevat and Nishadraj very important, and despite being a king himself, he did not rule over the people but taught them to live with discipline. He also gave the credit of his work to others. One should learn from Shri Ram how to live within limits, that is why he is called Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram.
Next, Amarvani Theatre staged the play Jaisa Tum Kaho written by Jaivardhan under the direction of Amar Dwivedi, after which the artistes were honoured with trophy medals and guests and social workers were honoured with mementos.
The theatre lovers said this year’s festival will remain etched in their memory.
