“Life is a theatre set in which there are but few practicable entrances.”
— Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
The Canara Union Arts Section, Malleswaram performed NAAD NINAAD, a musical drama in Marathi on August 13 at Guru Nanak Bhavan. This is a stage version of the evergreen 1965 classic, The Sound of Music which enjoys popularity even to date. Suitable changes in the locale (as the original is set in the snow-capped mountains of Simla during the British Raj) and the names have been changed to appeal to Indian sensibilities. The music is the main ingredient of this production and while the original tunes have been retained, they are set to Marathi lyrics that have been penned skillfully by the performers themselves.
The Konkani version was penned by Uday Bhatkal and this was further translated into Marathi by Shaila Padukone. Almost all the actors sang on-stage to the accompaniment of keyboards and guitar. The young musicians, Aditya Hosangadi, Aishwarya Bhatkal and Sharang Karkal infused energy into the drama with their music. Radhika Joshi, with a doctorate in Economics, is a trained Hindustani classical singer who did full justice to the role of Maria, the governess employed by the Colonel to look after his seven mischievous children, whom he finds impossible to “discipline” after the demise of his wife.
She is initially tested to her limit but soon, she wins them over with her kindness and her music. Sujay Ghorpadkar, who was also deeply involved with the group says, “All credit to director Sanjay to have conceived the whole play in Marathi. Getting over 25 artistes of all age groups onstage — four years old to 60 years old was challenging, and a hallmark in theatrical journeys. All the music in the play was sung live which made it enthralling.”
Onkar Sangoram essays the role of the Colonel, Sanjay Raut and Trupti Raut as Uncle Max and the Princess, respectively, and all three were extremely convincing, giving a memorable performance. But the stellar highlight of the show were the seven children (each named after the first syllable of the musical notes in Indian classical music. Like, Sangeeta - Sa, Rishabh -Re and so on) The children excelled in their roles and acted and sang their way into the hearts of the audience! The play has been performed eight times successfully in Bengaluru and Mumbai, in Konkani language and this was its first performance in Marathi. Many more shows are being planned to cater to audiences in Whitefield, Indiranagar and Jayanagar in the coming months.
In what is a unique first, the drama will also be staged in Kannada, making it a triple language production. In a diverse and multi cultural city like our’s, we need more plays like this to cater to the creative sensibilities of the regional language audience.
— The writer is an art expert and curator.
