#RaavanKiRamayan #EpicTheatreReview #TheatreCriticJohnsonThomas
Rating: * * * 1/2
Coconut Theatre Takes the lead in presenting The Films and Theatre Society's relaunch of it's epic play “Raavan Ki Ramayan” in Mumbai on 5th may 2018. Director Atul Satya Koushik who has also written the script, delineates Raavan's viewpoint regarding the Ramayana.The Director who has always managed to get celebrities from films and TV to act in his plays manages to scoop out once famous cinema villain Punnet Issar from the obscurity of TV, to star in the titular role as the agonised and deeply pained Raavan who believes he has been wronged by Shiva, to whom he has been the most ardent devotee.
The production may not have the lush majesty of the super successful #MughalEAzam but the emotive en-treatment cannot be denied. Raavan who most of us saw as the villain of the Ramayana, is the protagonist here.The play is his version of events that transpired and looks at why his eventual defeat at the hands of Lord Ram was inevitable. Puneet Issar who has played Duryodhana, another villain in epic mythology, in B R Chopra's super-successful TV serial Mahabharatha, gets to expose his talent as an actor through a series of hard-hitting, intense dialogues that shed light on Raavan's particular angst. And he is simply majestic here. A virtuous king's dilemma when his sister's Surpanakha's modesty is outraged, his idea of a dignified revenge,his blind faith in his sister's claims that eventually leads to his own downfall, his clash with his sons and ministers who advice him against the disastrous course of action, his conversations with wife Mandodari who chastises him for abducting Sita, keeping her confined in Ashokvan and Shiva's disenchantment with his ultimate devotee are brought out succinctly and powerfully in the sing-song dialogue, (though long winded), which sound like music to the ears. Raavan 's war with himself that pits duties and responsibilities as a king against that of a brother, father, husband and devotee is brought out beautifully by Puneet's majestic performance.Actors playing Surpanakha and Mandodari also strike at your heart with their plaintive cries of anguish over their fate.
The idea that beauty is but a parameter laid out by men who wants to control the way women think and behave,brought out by Surpanakha's predicament, is quite profound.The writer links Raavan's inner struggles with that of every-man - the eternal good versus evil fight that we wage within ourselves and it's enlightening to come face to face with our own culpability. It's to the actors credit that they manage to render it with pungent aplomb. While the length of the play could have been trimmed a bit considering it's overly verbose and wearisome at 2 hours and 30 minutes, it still manages to be spell-binding enough to keep you interested.
The production may be spare in terms of sets but the costumes are befitting and the lighting makes the visual experience more fulfilling. This is a less ostentatious epic with plenty of heart.
Rating: * * * 1/2
The production may not have the lush majesty of the super successful #MughalEAzam but the emotive en-treatment cannot be denied. Raavan who most of us saw as the villain of the Ramayana, is the protagonist here.The play is his version of events that transpired and looks at why his eventual defeat at the hands of Lord Ram was inevitable. Puneet Issar who has played Duryodhana, another villain in epic mythology, in B R Chopra's super-successful TV serial Mahabharatha, gets to expose his talent as an actor through a series of hard-hitting, intense dialogues that shed light on Raavan's particular angst. And he is simply majestic here. A virtuous king's dilemma when his sister's Surpanakha's modesty is outraged, his idea of a dignified revenge,his blind faith in his sister's claims that eventually leads to his own downfall, his clash with his sons and ministers who advice him against the disastrous course of action, his conversations with wife Mandodari who chastises him for abducting Sita, keeping her confined in Ashokvan and Shiva's disenchantment with his ultimate devotee are brought out succinctly and powerfully in the sing-song dialogue, (though long winded), which sound like music to the ears. Raavan 's war with himself that pits duties and responsibilities as a king against that of a brother, father, husband and devotee is brought out beautifully by Puneet's majestic performance.Actors playing Surpanakha and Mandodari also strike at your heart with their plaintive cries of anguish over their fate.
The idea that beauty is but a parameter laid out by men who wants to control the way women think and behave,brought out by Surpanakha's predicament, is quite profound.The writer links Raavan's inner struggles with that of every-man - the eternal good versus evil fight that we wage within ourselves and it's enlightening to come face to face with our own culpability. It's to the actors credit that they manage to render it with pungent aplomb. While the length of the play could have been trimmed a bit considering it's overly verbose and wearisome at 2 hours and 30 minutes, it still manages to be spell-binding enough to keep you interested.
The production may be spare in terms of sets but the costumes are befitting and the lighting makes the visual experience more fulfilling. This is a less ostentatious epic with plenty of heart.
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