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India's own superheroes

Rangeen Sapney to stage Ramleela, showcasing homegrown heroes like Hanuman, Ram and Ravan.

Even though written thousands of years ago, the country’s myths and religious texts have played an important role in shaping the Indian psyche. Now, Rangeen Sapney, a theatre group from the city, is set to stage Ramleela to raise awareness about our traditions and India’s own superheroes. “The box-office collections of the movie Avengers: Infinity War are sky-rocketing in India. The younger generation is forgetting that we, too, have superheroes like Hanuman, Ram and Ravan. We have been preparing for this magnum opus production for almost a year now and thought now would be the perfect time to stage the three-and-a half-hour production adapted from Radheshyam’s Ramayana to stage,” says Surender Sahil Verma, the director of the play.

On the challenges he faced and the overall experience in handling the epic storytelling, Surender says, “I grew up watching Ramleela and had even done small roles in it. For me, it is a dream project and the main challenge for us was to show the various sub-plots of the epic within the time frame. The 200-page script took me seven months to complete. Apart from the time constraint, another challenge was to find Hindi speaking actors. After thorough auditions, we finally got our 40 actors who will be donning 60 roles. I am playing Hanuman in the act.”

For Rahul Reddy of Octopus Studio who plays the role of Kumbhakarana in the play, it was his search to perform a multi-dimensional character that bore fruit. “When Surender approached me for a role in the play, I was sceptical, thinking he was crazy to even think that the Ramayana can be compressed into a short time period. But when I saw his passion and preparation for it, I was game. He wanted me to play Ravan, but due to my busy schedule I took up the role of Kumbhakarana. According to me, while I was researching the role, I realised that it is one of the most fascinating characters in the epic — such a knowledgeable and brave character. I am very excited to be on stage to perform.”

Upasana Aneja, an HR professional, will be playing two completely diverse characters, Shravan’s blind mother and Manthara. “On the one hand I am playing Shravan’s blind mother who is very docile and sad and on the other, I am Manthara, the manipulative one. Juggling both characters was a challenge but again it was fun to portray a lot of facial and gestural expressions,” says Upasana.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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