A play that narrated the tale of crime and retribution set in 1832 in India was brilliantly performed at Shaheed Bhavan Auditorium on Friday.
Picked up from the bestseller novel ‘Confessions of a Thug’ by Philip Meadows Taylor, the play highlights the practices by thugs who murdered the travellers for money and valuables. Directed by Nizam Patel, the play was splendidly performed by the artists of Maahi Socio Cultural theatre troupe. The play marked the second day of a three-day theatre fest ‘Anjay Tiwari Memorial Theatre Fest’.
The play begins with introducing the protagonist on stage Ameer Ali- the thug.
As Ameer enters the stage, he interacts with the audience and narrates his story, about the British travellers, the thuggee clan and his life experiences. From here the play takes interesting twists and turns which leaves the audience spell-bound.
The interesting part of the play was the language which was spoken by the conmen during British India. Ameer Ali, the protagonist of the play is a Pathan adopted and raised by a thug. After becoming a prominent captain he and his father relocate to Jhalone and win the confidence of the local ruler.
later, Ameer Ali became a prominent thug. He recalls his life while making confession to an Englishman when he was imprisoned by British.
During the play, other characters including the Englishman, Ameer Ali’s peer Bhudrinath, Peer Khan-the prominent thug who later became fakir, Cheetoo-the prominent leader of pindari expeditions as Ameer Ali recounts his life as a devoted follower of Thuggee.
The story uncovered the crimes committed by thugs and introduced ethnographic realism to western fiction about India. The strikingly vivid, chilling and immensely trilling play mesmerized the audience.
Shahvez Sikander as Ameer Ali did justification to his character. Wearing the pathani and keeping the body language of a thug on stage, Shahvez impressed the audience with his performance.