After a sold-out stage play at the ECE Foyer earlier this semester, Ada Dramatics, the theatre club of MIT, put up street play titled, “Aaj Ka Bharat, Aap Ka Bharat” outside FC1 on September 24th. The major attraction of the play were the freshers pumped up to enrapt the audience for the first time with an audience of over 200 gathered around.
The onset of rain minutes before the play began, failed to dampen the gusto of the exhilarated first-years. It started off with the crew members ushering through the corridors, beating drums and chanting their slogan, “Aao Aao Naatak Dekho” to captivate the audience.
This first-ever multi-theme street play put forth by team Ada, focused on the various social issues strangulating harmony in India. Highlighting the themes of political propaganda, unadulterated feminism, and media hypocrisy, it served as a wake-up call for the society. The protagonist was a student painted in buzzing headlines, reflecting the idea of a newspaper. Each headline thrown up by the newspaper was portrayed into a full-length scene through the course of the play.
The catchphrases “Tumne toh lagayi notebandhi, aur bana diya pure desh ko Sabzi Mandi”, “Tum kya chinoge kisaano se unki zameen, tumse naa hua India clean” raised poignant questions to those in power with a satirical lacing.
Breaking the conventional belief, here comes, a sister who wishes to see an imitation of Raavan in her brother. The notion was to redefine the ill-image of Raavan ,who never raped Sita,in relation to the wicked, inhumane juvenile offenders who seek the shelter of the juvenile law.
This was followed by the burial of a rape case for the sake of a juvenile culprit. It instigated major breakdown of the victim. But not before she realized the power of the sword in her hand. The Lady Justice though holds a balance in one hand also wields a sword in the other and can go to any expanse in the pursuit of justice.Â
The play then went on to talk about media hypocrisy and how the feminist sensation around Kabir Singh overpowered the problems of the Aarey Colony residents in Mumbai.While the people left no stone unturned to criticize Kabir Singh, they were hardly aware of the Aarey dispute.
Instruments like dhols, pop bottle music and junkyard items set the enthusiastic mood of the audience. To give a more appealing and life-like feel to the play actual green, white and orange colours were used to symbolize the national flag.
With the help of on-point dialogues, innovative songs and slogans the play emphasized the need to take individual actions on social issues.
“We can’t breathe money and development, we need oxygen to breathe,” said, Isha Gadgil, who is the Co-Director of the play along with Kannagi Sinha.
The audience was spellbound with emotions and readily appreciated the performance. “The actors were very much into what they were doing, and expressed the emotions really well,” remarked Atishay, a first-year at MIT.
” 70 saal se azaad tere desh ka jo haal, kyu nahi kiya kabhi tune ispe sawaal,yaha rinn ke shikaar,jaane kitne kisaan…”
The play ended with the corridors jammed with zealous voices as the crew members sung the signature jingle of the play titled “Sattar Saal!”
Edited by Navaneethcrshna
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