Darshak by Priyamvad

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The Play

Once again they entered into the shiny yet dark…real yet dreamy…cave of love which was built with memories, sorrows and pain. When life has to pay heavily in return to the desires to live, they were in their own magical world. Her body was breathing the coldness and he thought that she is surrendering. She was there…right there… and her soul could see clearly through her body that only the body was needed by him. He always said that the soul doesn’t participate and starts to play an audience when there is this fear or doubt, only bodies are the active participants…. And that night soul did the same while the bodies reacted to the desires.

Time passed by and again they met. Her body looked sad and ugly. Still they were ready to enter the cave of love….. Again…. And so they entered. He was wearing his clothes…. Soul was an audience again…. When suddenly she uttered ….

Director’s Note

Hum jaadu ke andar the….usi tarah jaise prem aur swapn ya dukh ke andar hote hain…”

These were the lines which inspired me to work on the story and to adapt it as a play. The so called love between a man and a woman is the very manifestation of convenient desires. The entire life keeps revolving around the search for eternal love and satisfaction, both physical and spiritual, dealing with responsibilities and finally getting nowhere…..and we start living in installments. What’s going to happen when Soul is the audience or when Soul is the active player.

The Director

Sadanand Patil, began exploring the theatre in the year 1987 in Katni, Madhya Pradesh. In the year 1994, he started to work with “Rang-vidushak (Bhopal)” under the direction of the maestro Bansi Kaul and continued till 2001 with the group. In 2001, entered National School Of Drama and graduated in acting and then worked with the NSD Repertory Company for six years where he got the opportunity to explore the art under the legends like Late B.V. Karanth, Late Bhaskar Chandravarkar, Habib Tanvir, Naseeruddin Shah, Anuradha Kapur, Prasanna, Ram Gopal Bajaj, Devendra Raj Ankur, Rob Clare and many other stalwarts.

Having over two thousand performances and more than hundred plays to his credit, presently he works with Kingdom Of Dreams.

The Writer

Priyamvad is best known for his fictions in Hindi. His widely acclaimed novels include,  Ve Wahan Qaid Hain,  Parchhai Naach,  Chhutti ke Din ka Chorus  and  Dharmsthal. His collections of stories like “Khargosh” and  “Aainaghar” attracted the immediate attention of the readers and critics alike for their content and style. He has been the guiding spirit behind the last 19 Kathaakaar Sammelan Sangman. Two films, Anwar and Khargosh, were based on his short stories.

Story – Priyamvad

Direction – Sadanand Patil

Manohar Khushalani

Manohar Khushalani

Prof. Manohar Khushalani is a former Visiting Faculty at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. The courses he taught were: Animation & Graphics, Non-Linear Editing for Film and Radio and Theatre Appreciation.  He has won a total of nine Excellence in Teaching awards for all the courses he has taught at IIITD Earlier he retired from Government of India as Director Environment Management, Central Water Commission and held many senior positions in the Government Based on a Belief that Culture and Environment are the two keys to global sustainability , Manohar Khushalani has launched two portals: A Portal on Environment and Water called One Vorld at url: www.onevorld.org and two Ezines on Culture called Stage Buzz at url: www.stagebuzz.in He has taught extensively in varied subjects such as Dam Safety, Instrumentation, CAD, IT, Animation, Theatre, Newspaper Editing. He has conducted Courses on Environment Management, Water Shed Development, Team Building and Personality Development. He was an Expert Member of Prasar Bharti’s Committee for Grading & Short listing Films for Telecast on all channels of Doordarshan.  He is a Radio Anchor for All India Radio and has moderated several programs for the Rajdhani Channel He is a well-known Theatre Actor/Director and Critic, has been involved in theatre since 1977. He has worked as an actor in over 50 plays with almost every leading director/Actor in the Country including Badal Sircar, Feisal Alkazi, Amal Allana, M.K. Raina, Anuradha Kapoor, Maya Rao, Manohar Singh, Prasanna, Rati Bartholomew and Sushmita Mukherji. He has been active in the social sector as a street theatre activist. As a member of Workshop Theatre, Theatre Union and Prayog, Khushalani has participated in street plays taking up major social issues such as dowry, bride burning, Sati, banned medicinal drugs and communalism. Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay Won’t Pay, both directed by him, received rave notices from critics and audiences alike. Other plays directed by him include Badal Sircar’s, Sagina Mahato and Boris Vian’s Empire Builders for Ruchika Theatre Group. Khushalani has also acted in a few films such as Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi , Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café and Pradeep Krishan's Annie Gives Those Ones. He is an Animator & Graphics Designer and has directed a number of documentaries. He also held a number of Honorary positions and was President of North India Films Association, He was the Chairman of  Jury for UGC CEC Educational Films Competition and has been on their Preview Committee since last many years. He was on the preview committee of Door Darshan Channel 3, was a visiting Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, AJKMCRR, Jamia Milia Islamia and Professor in Media at FICT, Delhi  He has judged a large number of Drama Competitions and conducted a number of Theatre / Management Games Workshops with Institutions such as AIIMS, NTPC, CWPRS, NWA, Karve Nari Prakshishan Sansthan, FICT, IIT, MAMC, Gargi College, KNC, Tagore International School and Vivekananda School. He is a Theatre Critic for IIC Diary, has also been a Columnist with Midday and Pioneer Daily and wrote Column's Called Culture Cocktail and Footlights Respectively. He was also the Guest Editor for an issue on Folk Theatre of ICCR Journal Horizons. He has written for Times of Indian, Hindustan Times, Blitz, Hard News, Hindu Business Line, Theatre India & Art Times. He has designed dams and hydraulic structures for the Government. He is a programmer and has developed Engineering design software in Fortran. He is a co-author of Irrigation Practice & Design (Vol 1 to5 - 1500 pages) published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust. He has been a Director, Environment and Sociology, at the National Water Academy, Khadakwasla and Director, Environment Management Directorate, Central Water Commission and Member Secretary, National Environmental Monitoring Committee for River Valley Projects. He was also Director of Instrumentation Directorate in the Dam Safety Organisation. He was Chief General Manager and Head of Water Resources at Scott Wilson and is an accredited consultant with numerous other organizations He is a Delhi Public School, BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi and FTI Pune Alumini. He was also the President of BITS Pilani Alumni Association, Pune.

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