Hindu right VHP complains and Modern Satire on Mahabharata cant be staged

The Times of India

VHP opposition shelves play on Kurukshetra War
TNN | Mar 30, 2012, 10.38PM IST

GUWAHATI: The much-awaited play "Mahabharator Bhool' (Mistakes of Mahabharata), a modern-day stage adaptation of the The Mahabharata, which was slated to be staged on March 31 at Ravindra Bhawan, will not be enacted on Saturday.

Nagaon-based theatre production house Rangmahal and Nagaon Anatyam Natya Sangathan, who were all set to give theatre-lovers a different angle to the epic, have decided to drop the play after the Vishwa Hindu Parish (VHP)'s Northeast Chapter lodged a complaint.

"We were informed that the VHP had lodged complaint against the title and some parts of the script. Then, the cultural directorate asked us to give a copy of the script. Later, the office asked us not to stage the play citing possible law and order problems. So, we have also decided not to stage it," said Pabitra Pran Sarmah, the director of the play.

Sarmah added that banning of the play here is disheartening as the play has already been enacted several times in Nagaon. "People loved and appreciated it," he added. Earlier, addressing the media on Friday, VHP's NE general secretary said they would bar staging of such plays and had already lodged a complaint with the authorities concerned.

"We have got a copy of the play's script. We have seen that the epic characters of The Mahabharata have been distorted in the play. They have used languages in the script which are not befitting to a great epic. It is against religious sentiments and can create disturbance," said Abhijeet Deka, general secretary of VHP, NE.

An official said the matter of enacting the play was discussed with Dispur, too, which asked the department to cancel the show. "First, we were asked to change the title and we did it too. It was renamed as 'Bholanathor Sopun'. Later, the department asked to cancel it," said the director in disappointment.

"Mahabharataor Bhool" was written by Tarun Saikia in the Eighties to show that the Kurikshetra War was a result of conflict of personal interests. Besides questioning the one-sided perception of The Mahabharata, the drama is also a satire on modern-day life.