The reinterpretation of an old tale was Indianised to suit the audience sensibilities
In a world where individuals are becoming greedy and corrupt, Baudamnath Raja — Teen Sheikh is a play that sheds light on how people need to control their obsession with the materialistic world before they turn insane with desire. The play was adapted from Emperor’s New Clothes, a short tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It narrates how the common man struggles under the rule of a ruthless and merciless emperor who does not care about the dwindling finances or the state of the kingdom and its people. All he cares about is wearing the most beautiful fabrics and showing it off to his counterparts. He is someone who is always found in the dressing room, trying new clothes at every possible chance. With widespread injustice in the kingdom, the people living there structure a plan to demolish the arrogance of the emperor in front of everybody. A group of three friends are appointed by the people who turn into Arab sheikhs to get into the emperor’s palace. With the aim of trapping the emperor in a web of his own game, one of the sheikhs tells the emperor about the most beautiful fabric that is made with gold and silver embroidery with the most precious rhinestones and gems embedded on it. But the only glitch is that the fabric cannot be seen by fools or people who pretend to work. The emperor is impressed and wants the sheikh to make the attire as soon as possible. The team pretends to work on designing the sherwani and they fill their bags with all the money that they receive from the emperor’s treasure with no fabric on the looms. One day, the emperor’s personal minister comes to check on the progress and sees no fabric on the looms. Since, the fabric cannot be seen by a fool, the minister assumes that he is a fool. To hide it, he appreciates the intricate patterns and the sheikhs for designing such an elegant material. The day arrives when the garments are completely designed and the emperor is ready to wear the fabric which is invisible to his eyes as well. In order to conceal that he is a fool, he praises the sheikhs immensely for the beautiful designs and dons the garment. When he goes out to take a walk in his kingdom, he is standing naked and a child comes and tells him as much. It is then that he realises how wrong he has been to his people and tries to be a better emperor. The actors’ portrayal is impeccable with great dialogues that kept the audience laughing throughout the play. The music and visual graphics were on spot with the transitions.
Airports Authority of India Officer’s Institute (AAIOI) in collaboration with Kala Darpan, a theatre group performed the play with the aim of promoting arts, especially the performing ones for which this new initiative was undertaken. Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, chairman, AAI and the patron of AAIOI has chalked out a road map and a vision for overall revival of AAIOI and the institute’s management committee is dedicated to promote arts and culture, sports and other recreational facilities.