The extravagant yet painful journey of a theatre actor who falls from the best to the worst circumstances was portrayed in play ‘Natsamrat’.
The play was staged here on Wednesday at Ravindra Bhavan auditorium. It is to be noted that this was the 26th presentation of play Nat Samrat and it received the same overwhelming response by theatre lovers as always.
Directed by a renowned playwright and set designer in Bollywood Jayant Deshmukh, the play was written by Vi Va Shirvadkar in Marathi and is translated in Hindi by Sacchinand Joshi. The play narrates the story of Ganpat Belwalkar who has seen a golden era of his career suddenly faces the darkness of failures.
Ganpat Belwalkar is the top actor of Marathi theatre industry. He is a Shakespearian actor and has already performed legendary characters like King Lear, Ceaser, Othello with gusto and more. He has been awarded with the highest rank theatre award ‘Natsamrat’.
Ganpat, an old man has retired after his one of the great performances. He has experienced the best of his career and now is at home with his wife, son, daughter and daughter-in-law.
Once a great drama actor experiences what he never expected. His life kept some more drama in store for him. As he is retired now, he is at home all the time and so faces troubles in connecting with his children. His daughter-in-law created ruckus every now and then. His son supports his wife, daughter is not really happy with his retirement.
His children turn against him. But, in all the trials Ganpat’s wife Kaveri stand by him. His life takes a tragic turn and all the struggle ends with his death.
Alok Chatterjee, as Ganpat Balwalkar, impressed the audience and totally justified the character. The emotional phases all through the play made audience glued to their seats watching the play till the end. The set and light design were also impressively done. Though the play was in Hindi the essence of Marathi language was also seen in play.