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Of love, betrayal and more

GOOD PERFORMANCE A scene from “Bin Baati Ke Deep”.

Well-known playwright Shankar Sesh died in 1982 at the age of 42.. He left behind some very good plays like “Ek Aur Dronacharya”, “Rakt Beej”, “Phande”, “Poster”, “Kamal Kandhar”, which was published after his death and directed by Ramesh Manchanda some time back. Then, there was yet another good play, “Bin Baati Ke Deep”, first staged in 1990 and directed by Panchanan Pathak. The play, this time directed by Sanjeev Johri, was again staged to a packed house at New Delhi’s India Habitat Centre this week.

“Bin Baati Ke Deep” is a well written play. A young Johri, both as the director and the main actor, Shiv, has done full justice to it. The playwright builds his story around a brilliant blind writer Vishakha who comes on the stage just about three-four times. She is married to Shiv, a second rate poet, who can go to any length to gain acceptance.

In league with the typist, Manju, who is also his girlfriend, Vishakha’s work is sent out to different publishers under his name. He makes a lot of money and a name for himself in the world of poetry. To carry on the racket, even Vishakha’s eye-drops are changed.

One day, in walks Major Anand, an old friend of the family. Neither Shiv nor the typist is at home. He smells a rat in Vishakha’s medical treatment and persuades her to change her doctor. To have her eyes examined by a famous eye specialist he takes her to Shimla. For months, Shiv doesn’t hear from them. But he goes on making money and fame by passing on Vishakha’s work as his own. It goes on till one day Vishakha returns home fully recovered. From a press cutting she discovers how all her writings had been passed off as her husband’s work.

In a powerful last scene when the typist sheepishly sneaks out of the room, the playwright leaves it to the audience to decide what happened next or should have happened to the husband.

Well presented

“Bin Baati Ke Deep” is a meaningful piece of theatre well presented by the cast, in which Sanjeev Johri as Shiv, the fake writer, is in full command. Rekha Malhotra Johri as his wife Vishakha plays with dignity and immense control specially in the last scene. Another good performance comes from Manu Dhingra in the Major Anand’s role.

There were, however, a few directorial slips for instance, the telephone ring came from the wrong direction, the small blue light fell on the audience’s eyes throughout the performance. Sanjeev Johri as the actor-director has moved up the ladder fast to join the ranks of some top young actors/directors on the Delhi stage.

The play must be kept alive to reach a wider audience of theatre goers. Both the shows were by invitation from Bela Theatre Welfare Society, a well known theatre group in Delhi. Their gesture is indeed welcome but surely the performing group’s name should have been mentioned somewhere. Then again, 90 per cent of the audience were non-theatre goers; obviously the invitations to a mainly non-theatre going audience was a gesture of goodwill by the financiers and donors who did not wish to disclose their identity.

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