'Ek kahani Bastar Ki' staged at Bharat Bhavan

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Directed by a young theatre director, Sourabh Anant, and music  by Hemant Deolekar, the folklore is taken from one of the oldest folk stories of Bastar. This tale is originally written and told in the Halbi language of Bastari, also known as Bastari language.  This story was written for the entertainment of  people during that era.

 The story follows the life of the King of Bastar- Raja Choubey. According to the folk tale, the king remained deprived from the happiness of becoming a father for years. Years later he was bestowed with the blessings and had a daughter.  The king’s happiness was indefinable, but the renowned scholar of his palace, Pandit,wanted to acquire the throne. So, he played a conspiracy and asked the king to sacrifice the love for his daughter. Disheartened king asked the soldiers to leave the child in the forest.

 But a farmer found the infant and he brought her up, unaware that she is the princess. Years later, king’s proposal was sent to the farmer’s family unaware of the fact that she is kings’ only daughter and the marriage of the girl with arranged with her father.  Before the marriage, the girl visits the palace and discovers that she is the lost princess. Soon she unveiles the conspiracy of the Pandit and the king found his lost daughter.

 With the use of folk music of Bastar, the play appeared to be a dance drama. Further, with the elements of art, culture and tradition of Bastar, the play becomes more interesting to watch for theater lovers.  While talking to The Pioneer, the director of the play said, “This is the opening show of the play. Basically we have done an experiment on the folk style of Bastar and after a huge research we found this story. Undoubtedly we did some manipulations in the story and presented it on stage maintaining the art and culture of Bastar.”

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