GUWAHATI, March 24 - Reowned theatre group Rangvinayak Rangmandal, which is the cultural wing of Daya Drishti Charitable Trust of Bareilly, under the auspices of the National School of Drama, New Delhi, has been staging Shatranj Ke Khiladi by Munshi Premchand in different corners of the North East, a press release stated.
A joint project of NSD and Rangvinayak Rangmandal to encourage cultural exchange and artistic interaction with NER and the rest of the country, artistes of Rangvinayak staged drama from March 10 to 18 in Assam and Meghalaya. The main artistes were Raiees Khan, Pankaj Kukreti, Danish Khan, Asmita Shri, Samyun Khan, Neha, Mohsin and Vijay, while music and backstage were handled by Pankaj Maurya. The play was directed by Ambuj Kukreti.
The widely acclaimed drama was staged at Sonapur College on March 12. The play was subsequently staged at the Salty Auditorium of 58 GTC venue in Shillong on March 13, besides Handique Girls� College on March 14, followed by an evening performance at Morigaon�s Saraibahi. The play was also staged in the theatre space of Replica in Jorhat on March 15. Despite faltering knowledge of Hindi, the enthusiasm and eagerness of understanding among the audience was appreciable.
The group choose this play because on the one hand it mentioned the terrible consequences of indifference towards responsibility, and on the other it showed glimpses of Awadh-time social life. The group laid special emphasis on the artistes� costume-designing, jewelleries, gesture and talks that represented the days of yore, and was obviously considered quite informative for the Assam and Shillong audiences.
The project was led by Asmita Shri, who is an active artist of Rangvinayak and locally coordinated by Dhanjit Boro, who arranged all the shows in NER. Dr Brijeshwar Singh, chairman of Daya Drishti Charitable Trust, expressed gratitude towards NSD for their overall support and cooperation.
