On November 10, the Mask Players Art Group brought to life Jayvardhan’s comedy play Gorakhdhanda at Gurugram’s Rang Parivartan Auditorium, delighting audiences with laughter and charm under the skilled direction of Chandrashekhar Sharma.

The storyline of Gorakhdhanda is a clever, layered satire on deception and morality, following the antics of a crafty property dealer and his equally sly servant. The two exploit a unique business model—illegally renting out government houses. Enlisting the help of a resourceful actor friend, they devise numerous ways to extract extra money from unsuspecting tenants. They pose as fake police officers, manufacture absurd emergencies, and even cut off tenants’ cable wires, all to manipulate and swindle money out of them.

However, their clever games reach a turning point when they encounter a new tenant, Geeta, a quick-witted woman who begins to see through their schemes. Unlike previous tenants, Geeta decides to fight back, taking matters into her own hands. Her pushback throws the scheming trio into a spiral of missteps, confusion, and unintended consequences. This leads to a brilliantly funny climax, where each character is forced to confront the absurdity of their deception, making for a deeply engaging and humorous plot twist.

Chandrashekhar Sharma’s direction is seamless, reflecting both his understanding of the play’s humor and his ability to highlight social commentary without losing the comedic essence. Sharma managed to balance the farcical elements of the story with a simplicity that made the scenes relatable and accessible. His careful pacing kept the audience engaged, and he ensured that every punchline landed. The transitions between scenes were smooth, and the intricate dynamics between characters were allowed to unfold naturally, making for a cohesive performance that held the audience’s attention from start to finish.

The cast of Gorakhdhanda shone on stage, each actor embracing their character with authenticity and energy. Ashish Sharma, Nikhil Jha, Eva Dandona, Pushkar Sagar, Ashutosh Srivastava, Jatin, and Mayank Sharma added rich layers to the play with their roles, enhancing the comedic timing and providing moments of slapstick that were both skillful and hilarious.

Together, the ensemble cast displayed a natural chemistry, enhancing each other’s performances and creating a lively atmosphere on stage. Their nuanced expressions, quick timing, and humorous dialogues conveyed not only the humor but also the subtle social critique embedded in the play.

Behind the scenes, a dedicated technical team brought the world of Gorakhdhanda to life with admirable precision. Sarita Rana, Manoj, Rakesh Sharma, Sangeeta Suyal, and Mamta Rani were instrumental in handling the set changes, props, and lighting that supported the narrative. Their efforts ensured that each scene flowed effortlessly, with no disruptions, adding polish to the production. The set design was simple but effective, allowing the audience to focus on the characters while still providing the necessary realism for the setting. Lighting and sound cues were timely, which helped to heighten the comedic moments and emphasized the shifts in tone as the story progressed.

For those who missed the Gurugram performance, there’s good news—the play will be staged again on November 16 at Blank Canvas Studio, Mandi House, New Delhi, promising another evening of laughter and insight.

A monthly art seminar was organized on 27 October 2024 at the ‘Kala Sankul’ of Sanskar Bharti, Delhi, in which a unique confluence of India’s cultural diversity and unity was seen. Padmashree Ramdayal Sharma ji, who is a reputed Nautanki artist and guru, was present as a special guest in this program.

The program started with the lighting of the lamp where Sanskar Bharti’s Rashtriya Sangathan Mantri Abhijeet Gokhale, Ashok Tiwari, Digvijay Singh, Padmashree Ramdayal Sharma, Shyam Kumar, Raj Upadhyay, Deputy Registrar O.P. Sagar, Shruti Sinha were present.

The program started with captivating presentations of various folk dances, in which Manya Narang, Divya Kumari, Lavanya Sinha, Avya Tiwari and Katha Vachika Ruhi Jaiswal, under the leadership of Ms. Sneha Mukherjee, presented the folk dances of Rajasthan and Haryana in a very lively form. After this, Ms. Prabha Dubey’s group Rashmi Singh, Pooja Tripathi, Vaishnavi, Akshit Pratap Singh, Durga Bashakh, Jyoti Sharma, Gargi Savaria, Nitya Bansal, Bhavya Bansal and Megha Jain mesmerized the audience by presenting a unique amalgamation of Garba, Dandiya and Bengal’s Dhunuchi dance.

Padma Shri Ramdayal Sharma Ji in his speech highlighted the antiquity of Nautanki and its Indianness. He told that Nautanki is basically an expression of religious and Indian consciousness, and maintaining its purity is the need of the hour. Initially, Nautanki art was known as Swang and Bhagat.

In earlier times, there was no stage art without Indian consciousness. If the sufferings faced by King Harishchandra for the truth are shown through art, then the new generation will have Indian consciousness.

The program was conducted by Garima Rani Ji, while the vote of thanks was presented by Shruti Sinha Ji. This seminar emerged as a symbol of Indian culture, folk art and national unity, in which art teachers, researchers and art lovers participated in large numbers. Raj Upadhyay, Shyam Kumar, Pradeep Pathak, Raman Kumar, Aanchal Kumari, Tarushi, Anjali Kumari, Sakshi Sharma, Saurabh Kumar, Harshit Kumar, Raman Kumar, Brajesh Vishwakarma, Satyam Kumar along with the manager of the Kala Sankul Digvijay Pandey, Mrityunjay Kumar, Sushant contributed to making the program successful.

Delhi based Natsamrat once again brought comedy filled plays for the audience. Plays written by Anton Chekhov, Moliere and Satya Prakash were staged under the direction of Shyam Kumar. On 2nd and 5th October such plays were staged in LTG Auditorium (Blank Canvas), Mandi House, New Delhi in which the director also tried to give a message to the society through his plays and that message touched the hearts of the audience.

On 2nd October two plays were staged. The first play “The Proposal” written by Anton Chekhov was staged. This is the story of a young man who proposes marriage to his neighbour’s unmarried daughter. The story gets worse when the three of them start arguing about whose property it is and whose dog is better.

The play “Kallu Nai MBBS” written by Moliere was staged. The audience gathered in large numbers for the presentation of the play. The audience applauded every dialogue. All the characters played their roles well.
The gist of the play is that a barber is always drunk and beats his wife. The barber’s wife promises herself that she will teach her husband a lesson. Meanwhile, she meets a servant who is looking for a doctor to treat their master’s daughter’s dumbness. The barber’s wife tells him that there is such a doctor here, but he does not consider himself a doctor until he is beaten up properly. The servant beat the barber and force him to become a doctor and take him to his master. Later on, the play takes a very good turn.

On 5 October, again “The Proposal” play was staged along with “Kambakht Ishq” written by Satya Prakash. In today’s time, life has become so busy that children do not have time for their parents, due to which their parents start falling ill. Especially when someone’s mother is alone and someone’s father is alone. The story of the play Kambakht Ishq touched the hearts of the audience along with laughter because somewhere probably everyone was finding themselves in the same place which was being shown in the play.

Artists Vishwajeet, Munmun, Arvind Shandilya, Sudhir Khanna, Aman Kumar, Soumya Yadav, Shivangi and Raman Kumar played their roles very well. Stage Managers Sunil Rathore and Suraj Singh, Set Managers Naushad and Rohit Prasad, Make-up artist Payal and Rajrani, Costume assistants Chhobi Saha and Rekha Devi, Music Operated by Vansh Rathore and light design by Natsamrat’s director Shyam Kumar.

29 September, New Delhi – In order to promote art and literature, the monthly theatre seminar organised by Sanskar Bharti, Delhi was organised at ‘Kala Sankul’. The main theme of this seminar was ‘Indian perspective and challenges in modern theatre writing’. Director of National School of Drama (NSD) Chittaranjan Tripathi and senior theatre critic Anil Goyal were present as keynote speakers.

In his speech, Chittaranjan Tripathi expressed deep concern over the current state of Indian theatre institutions and writing. He said that in today’s time there is a huge shortage of writing material, which does not present the society and Indian perspective in the right way. He stressed that the study of Indian epics like Mahabharata is very important to understand the art, culture and history of India. According to Tripathi, today’s youth is interested in theatre, but it is very important to write keeping Indianness at the centre.

He also discussed the tradition of folk theatre and said, “When we understand the folk, we will be able to make theatre better too.” Explaining the importance of folk theatre, he said that it is a genre that is born and survives among the common people, which develops by keeping their life and behaviour at the centre.

Drama critic Anil Goyal also expressed his views on the Indian theatre tradition and criticised the wrong portrayal of history by some theatre writers of the past decades. He described the lack of young theatre writers as the biggest challenge of the present times. Goyal said, “The theatre world has always felt the lack of good writers. The film world may have got better writers, but this lack can be clearly seen in the theatre field.”

It was also discussed in the seminar that in the desire for political correctness, difficult and complex issues did not find a place in plays. Referring to the writings based on the wars of 1962 and 1971, he said that films were made on these historical events, but effective plays were not written.

The program was inaugurated by National Organization Minister of Sanskar Bharati Abhijit Gokhale, Director of National School of Drama (NSD) Chittaranjan Tripathi, Senior Critic Anil Goyal, Kuldeep Sharma. Ashok Tiwari, Digvijay Singh, Registrar of NSD P.K. Mohanty and Deputy Registrar O.P. Sagar were present.

The presence of many Senior Theatre Director’s like Mr. Ramdayal Sharma, Avtar Sahni, J.P. Singh, Rohit Tripathi, Chandrakanta Tripathi, Shyam Kumar, Raj Upadhyay, Bhupesh Joshi and Vashisht Upadhyay made the program special. The successful organization of the program was a proof of the dedication of all the members of Sanskar Bharati.

This seminar proved to be an important platform for Indian theatre, where serious discussions were held on the current challenges of playwriting from the Indian perspective. Emphasizing the relevance of epics like Mahabharata, Tripathi told the need for playwrights to focus on Indian context. Anil Goyal, on the other hand, openly expressed his concerns on the lack of young writers and absence of serious subjects.

Overall, this symposium provides a great opportunity to rethink about the direction and challenges of writing in Indian theatre, which can provide inspiration and direction to upcoming writers.

On the 14th and 15th of September, *Saiyan Bhaye Kotwal* was staged by New Delhi Performers at Alliance Française de Delhi, Lodi Estate, New Delhi, under the direction of Basab Bhattacharya. This musical comedy play, a Hindi adaptation of the renowned Marathi play *Vichha Majhi Puri Kara*, originally written by Vasant Sabnis and translated into Hindi by Usha Banerjee, focused on the theme of corruption. Through humor, music, and lively performances, the play delivered sharp satire.

Performed by the talented cast of *New Delhi Performers*, the play balanced entertainment with a strong message. It offered incisive commentary on power, greed, the inefficiency of administrative systems, making critical observations through its humorous lens.

The music and dance elements were key in keeping the audience engaged. The main objective of the play highlighting corruption through satire was successfully conveyed. Costumes and choreography were commendable, adding a vibrant touch to the performances. The inclusion of contemporary film songs connected the play to the present day, allowing the audience to relate to the storyline more effectively.

The performances were a highlight, with Dhruv Sharma playing Maharaj, Animesh Singhal as Hawaldar, Arpan Arora in the role of Pradhan, and Abhishek as the energetic Sipahi. Chetna portrayed Mainavati, while Ritwik Marwah took on the role of Kotwal. Saurabh Bhutoria, in the role of Sakhiya, won the audience’s applause with his stellar performance. The narrators, Hardik and Sheetal Marwah, added a guiding presence to the story. Behind the scenes, Vedant and Rinki lent their voices, while Dinesh played the harmonium and Harsh took charge of the dholak. Ved Deep led the Music, and Ritesh handled the lighting design.

Overall, *Saiyan Bhaye Kotwal* offered an engaging musical experience where the blend of music and lively performances drove the story forward. The cast’s energetic presentation ensured that the audience left the theater entertained and impressed.

On August 4, 2024, Mask Players Art Group performed the play “Prem-Parinde” at the Rangparivartan Auditorium in Gurugram. Written and directed by Chandrashekhar Sharma, the play delves into the modern trend of forming romantic relationships without understanding their depth, turning it into a social pressure for today’s youth. This phenomenon is leading to crimes in the name of love and causing familial disintegration. Additionally, social media is exacerbating the situation, with students prioritizing creating reels over building their future.

The play conveys its serious message in a humorous manner. The main character, Nisha, is a fan of a superstar and is so obsessed with movies that she lives her life in a cinematic way. This obsession leads her to fall in love with Rajan, a loafer who resembles a superstar, and she even finances his expenses. Their movie-like love story reaches a point where they realize they have only been deceiving each other under the guise of love and don’t truly understand what love is.

The roles were well-portrayed by Pooja Singh as Nisha, Ashish Sharma as Rajan, Rakesh Sharma as the father, Hansika Jain as the wife, and Parth Srivastava as Bhola. The actors’ timing was impeccable, adding to the entertainment of the audience. Behind the scenes, Nikhil Jha handled the lights and Mayank Sharma managed the music, both contributing significantly to the success of the presentation.

The play, while tickling the audience’s funny bones, conveyed a profound message relevant to today’s youth.

New Delhi, July 28, 2024: The “Bharatmuni’s Natya Shastra – Tradition and Experimentation” symposium, hosted by Sanskar Bharati’s ‘Kala Sankul,’ was graced by the presence of renowned classical artist and theater theorist Professor Bharat Gupt. His insights on the significance and deep aspects of ancient Indian theater added great value to the event.

In his address, Professor Gupt highlighted the crucial elements of ancient Indian theater. He remarked that while the British sought to revive Indian drama through European theatre during the Islamic period in India, Indian historians have not done justice to the native dramatic traditions. He also expressed concern that successive governments since independence have largely ignored the importance of drama.

Professor Gupt questioned why, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, there is no memorial for Bharatmuni, the father of Indian theatre, despite India having one of the oldest theater traditions in the world. He praised the linguistic integration in ancient Indian dramas as a unique example of Indian tradition and lamented the lack of due respect due to conflicting historical narratives among scholars.

He stressed the need to unify the two streams of Indian tradition—ancient and urban—and underscored the significance of linguistic integration in theatre. The symposium saw participation from students, professors, playwrights, and theatre practitioners who discussed the necessity of innovation in drama.

Sanskar Bharati ‘Kala Sankul’ organizes monthly symposia on various subjects like music, dance, folk dance, literature, and visual arts on the last Sunday of each month. These symposia, held at the Kala Sankul on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, review and discuss the challenges and integration of Indian art perspectives.

The event was attended by notable artists such as Padma Shri Ram Sutar, Padma Shri Ranjana Gauhar, Bharatanatyam dancer Rama Vaidyanathan, Flutist Pandit Chetan Joshi, Jayaprabha Menon, Abhay Sopori, Meenu Thakur, and Professor Chandan Chaubey.

The success of the symposium was attributed to the efforts of the organizing team, including Coordinator Kuldeep Sharma, Advisor Raj Upadhyay &  Shyam Kumar, Assistant Coordinator Raman Kumar,  Anjali Kumari, Sujata Kumari, Saurabh Kumar, Shruti Sinha, Vishwadeep, Sakshi Sharma, and  Dr. Prashant Upadhyay, Brajesh Bhatt, Dr. Shailesh Srivastava, Brijesh, Shivam, Vijendra and Mani Kumar.

Prominent theatre artists, playwrights, directors such as Professor Chandan Chaubey, Delhi University theater critic Lokendra Trivedi, Senior Social Worker Khulna Sahni, theater director Rohit Tripathi, J. P. Singh and Chandrakanta Tripathi were also present. The symposium was successfully conducted by Garima Rani.

Rohtak. Five different plays are being staged in the five-day National Drama Festival organized by Haryana Institute of Performing Arts Rohtak, Pathania World Campus, Zad Global School and Department of Art and Cultural Affairs Haryana. The play “Popcorn” directed by Kedar Thakur of Shimla and written by Ashish Pathak, the play Kambakht Ishq directed by Shyam Kumar of Delhi and written by Satya Prakash Darwa, “Sandhya Chaya” directed by Sunil Chauhan of Delhi and written by Jayant Dalvi, the play “Saiyaan Bhaye Kotwal” directed by Vishaw Deepak Trikha of Rohtak and written by Vasant Sabnis and the play “Bonus Show” directed by Kajal Suri of Delhi and written by Aziz Qureshi will be staged.

The second evening of the five-day National Drama Festival was dedicated to the presentation of Natsamrat Delhi’s ‘Kambakht Ishq’. In this play directed by Shyam Kumar, the truth and essence of the life of the elderly was depicted in a very interesting way. This presentation full of humor tickled the audience a lot.

The plot of the comedy drama Kambakht Ishq revolves around two elderly people for whom their children do not have time. Due to the busy life and lack of love from children, the elderly try to attract the attention of children in the guise of love. The children’s problems increase when both the elderly people fall in love with each other and start meeting secretly.

The drama was successful in giving the message that people forget that ‘a true companion is needed the most in old age, to share one’s feelings.’ This problem and the struggle of loneliness in old age was seen in this presentation with a touch of laughter.

The actors presented the story of the drama in a very interesting manner and received a lot of applause from the audience. Sanjay Basliyal in the role of Kishan and Munmun in the role of Radha won everyone’s heart with their excellent acting. PK Khyal in the role of doctor, Aman Kumar in the role of Jai, Shivangi in the role of Leela and Raman Kumar as compounder also impressed. Sunil Rathore and Rohit Prasad were the stage managers while Suraj and Lokesh took care of the stage material. Make-up was done by Rajrani and costumes by Payal. Music direction was done by Vansh Rathore and lighting design was done by Natsamrat director Shyam Kumar.

The 5th Mumbai Theatre Festival organized by Natsamrat was successfully held from 21st to 23rd June at Creative Adda Auditorium, Versova, Mumbai. The director of all the plays is Shyam Kumar.

On the first day of the Theatre Festival, 21st June at 7 pm, the play Satya Prakash’s “Kambakht Ishq” was staged. This play explained deep themes while making the audience laugh. The story revolves around Jai’s father Kishan and Leela’s mother Radha, who face loneliness due to their children’s busy schedules. They meet at a clinic and start spending time together, which alleviates their loneliness. However, their children misunderstand this relationship and prevent them from meeting, causing both to fall ill again. Eventually, the children realize their parents need each other’s support.

Later that evening at 8:30 pm, the play “The Proposal” written by Anton Chekhov was staged. This play tells the story of a young man proposing marriage to his neighbor’s unmarried daughter. The story becomes more complicated as they argue over property and dogs.

On June 22, at 7 pm, “Haye Mera Dil” written by Ranbir Singh was staged. This play depicts the story of a hypochondriac husband who, due to a misunderstanding, believes he is going to die soon. He plans a wedding for his wife, but she mistakes his behavior for infidelity.

At 8:30 pm, the play “Kuchh Tum Kaho Kuchh Hum Kahen” written by Ashish Kotwal was staged. It tells the story of Anand and Mansi, who have different outlooks on life. Their poignant banter left the audience emotional.

The Natya Mahotsav concluded on June 23 with the play “Kallu Naai MBBS” written by Moliere. This play is about a barber who is always drunk and beats his wife. His wife devises a plan with the help of servants to teach him a lesson.

In all the plays, actors Sanjay Basliyal, Munmun, P.K. Khayal, Aman Kumar, Shivangi, Raman Kumar, Sudhir Khanna, Naveen, Vishwajeet, and Saumya Yadav gave excellent performances. Backstage management was handled by Sunil Rathore and Naushad, stage management by Suraj Singh, makeup by Payal and Raj Rani, costumes by Chhobi Saha and Rohit Prasad, and lighting was designed by Shyam Kumar.

The audience greatly appreciated these plays and praised the messages contained within them.

A three-day workshop (28 to 30 in 2024) was organized at Rabindranath Tagore University under the Faculty of Sanskrit Prachaya Bhasha Kendra Manviki Udaar Kala Sankay. Its participants were students of Masters in Performing Arts (Drama). Two plays were prepared by them. The play “Kaalchakra” written and directed by J.P. Singh and the other play “Bank Manager” written by Anton Chekhov and directed by Shyam Kumar were staged in the Sharada Auditorium of the University on 30 May. The play “Kaalchakra” is based on the legend of Raja Bhoj and Gangu Teli, in which the lead roles were played by J.P. Singh as Raja Bhoj and Tarun Jalota as Gangu Teli. Vaidyanath Sharma as Vaidya and Amatya, Vashishtha Upadhyay played the role of Ang Raj, Jyoti Upadhyay as Chandramukhi, Ashfaq as Musician, Vansh Rathore as Singer, Neeraj played the role of Dwarpal and Lights Designed by Shyam Kumar. The play Kaalchakra was started with a Jarjar Puja as per the rules of Natyashastra. A unique amalgamation of music and acting was seen in the play.

The second story full of humour “Bank Manager” is about a woman who comes to a bank, forces the manager to fulfill her unreasonable demands, the play is full of some humorous exchange of dialogues between the two and ends with the manager literally losing his mind. Nagendra Sharma played the role of the bank manager, the role of the woman was played by Shraboni Saha, Sachin Verma played the role of the assistant manager, music was directed by Vansh Rathore and lighting was designed and directed by Shyam Kumar.

In both the presentations, senior theatre artist and former director of M.P.S.D. Alok Chatterjee and the Vice-Chancellor of the University Dr. Aditi Chaturvedi Vats and the Vice Chancellor of the University graced their dignified presence as the chief guests. Alok Sir appreciated the play and praised the acting of all the artists. Dr. Aditi Chaturvedi Vats called the students’ presentation commendable and called it the heritage of the University. All the students were given certificates after the play. The coordinators of this workshop were Dr. Sanjay Dubey and Dr. Savitri Singh Parihar, co-coordinator Dr. Deepak Tiwari, cooperation from the Faculty of Humanities and Liberal Arts and Mr. Sharad Mishra, Abhishek Deshmane.