Drama School Mumbai Presents RAKT KALYAN

Drama School Mumbai is all set to stage this year's student production Rakt Kalyan, directed by Sunil Shanbag. A story originally written by Girish Karnad was written in 1989 but still holds some relevance till date.

Sunil Shanbag sharing his delight at directing the students, says "Rakt Kalyan is a powerful play that is important both historically and in current times. I am also very excited because I am directing a play written by Girish Karnad for the first time, something I have wanted always to do. I enjoy working with theatre students and am grateful for the opportunity at the Drama School Mumbai. The text is a big challenge for the students but they are eager to do their best and am sure they will do justice to themselves and the text. "

Elaborating on why Rakt Kalyan was chosen for this year's presentation, Jehan Manekshaw elaborates, " Girish Karnad's play has been one that we have looked at during a 'Scene Study' module in the past at DSM, and I have always been fascinated at how much it resonates with the world today. Drama School Mumbai seeks to show how theatre, and the telling of these great stories, is an important act to get audiences to think about the world around us, and hopefully, through that self awareness, affect change."

Shedding more light on the play, Jehan says, "This story of two leaders, a progressive saint with this fundamental idea that society must be fair, equitable and just, and a king who believes and loves this saint, but is ruler of a society that is held in place by age old norms of caste, and patricarchy, and how even then, as now, any attempt to move from one order to the other, comes with heavy consequences. Its a great exploration of our world, and we will all see a bit of today in the play."

Giving us a little insight on this year's batch Jehan shares, "In our sixth year, the structures and journey that students undertaking the course have been considerably refined, and this batch is the beneficiary of the learning journey that we had as a school across the last 6 years, they are a tight ensemble, committed to their work, and really hungry to learn the craft and tell good stories. Rakt Kalyan is such an opportunity for them. "

The play will open on the 8th of March at Drama School Mumbai with shows until the 15th in Mumbai. After which the team will take their production to Bangalore and be back to Mumbai for their final leg of shows.

Written in 1989 in the backdrop of mandir­mandal conflict, this play draws parallels in the socio-­religious, political and economic conditions between southern India in the 12th century A.D. during Bhakti Movement and current times as we see them today. Eight hundred years ago in the city of Kalyan a man called Basavanna assembled a congregation of poets, mystics, social revolutionaries and philosophers ­ unmatched in their creativity and social commitment. They opposed idolatry, rejected temple worship, upheld equality of sexes, and condemned the caste system. Events take a violent turn when they act on their beliefs and an upper caste Brahmin girl is married to a non-­Brahmin boy. Rakt Kalyan (Tale­danda) is a story spanning a few weeks that shows how a vibrant, prosperous society is plunged into anarchy and terror.

Director - Sunil Shanbag

Translation - Ram Gopal Bajaj

Cast - Aaryan Tandon, Abhijeet Singh, Anmol Oberoi, Apeksha Vora, Chakori Dwivedi, Dhiraj Wadhwani, Dusha Nandu, Mallika Shah, Manasvi Sharma, Mati Rajput, Nihir Jain, Nikita Kumar, Nitya Mathur, Prajesh Kashyap, Sanket Agarwal, Shimli Basu