By Sravasti Datta

Plays in Bengaluru are becoming multilingual. Gone are the days when theatre folk had to call audiences to come watch a play in Hindi. Mathura Kalauny, a playwright and theatre director who founded Kalyan Theatre, Bengaluru’s oldest Hindi theatre group in 1988 says that he has seen the Hindi theatre landscape change in Bengaluru. “In earlier times, we had to call audiences to come and watch our plays. Now, with the IT crowd, we have more audiences. But the younger audiences still prefer reels and short video formats,” he tells us. Now, Kalyan Theatre, in its 35th year, is staging a collage of two short plays, titled Jo Peechhe Rah Jaate Hain (those who are left behind).
The first play, Saamaan, is based on a story written by Dr Urmila Shirish. “I have adapted the story into a play. It is about martyr Major Sandeep’s family, who sacrificed his life in the Kargil War. While people admire him for his valour and sacrifice, his family, who is left behind, has to face the anguish of losing him. The play depicts the distress of the family while highlighting the hypocrisy and self-serving nature of society,” says Mathura, who has staged close to 30 plays, and has written 22 full-length plays.
The second play, Janaksuta Urmila, is a heartrending saga about the lesser Urmila, who is left behind by her husband Lakshmana as he decides to go into exile with Ram and Sita. She deals with a life of loneliness and separation. “I wrote this play within two months. I was always inquisitive about the character of Urmila. This time I got a chance to write about her as she fitted the concept of Jo Peechhe Rah Jaate Hain,” he adds.