Journalism of Courage
Maniram Dewan brought Assams popular freedom fighter to the Capital
A few months ago,Kathak dancer and theatre director Hemanta Kumar Kalita was faced with a strange problem: How do you tell the story of Assamese freedom fighter Maniram Dewan to an audience thats never heard of him? The solution,he thought,lay in translating a heroic struggle into a dance drama,punching it with vigorous Assamese folk music and dance. Maniram Dewan Echoes of 1857,sponsored by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and staged at LTG auditorium on Thursday,also juxtaposed several contrasting elements Assamese rhythms and Hindi dialogues,Kathak and modern movements.
He belongs to the Lucknow gharana of Kathak and is a Grade A artist with Doordarshan. For Maniram Dewan,I was determined to keep the energy level high since the storyline itself is a common one of every martyr who gave up his life fighting for the Independence of the country. People in Delhi are familiar with Bhagat Singh but the stories and sacrifices of the East are unknown, says Kalita,35,who played the lead. The actors were drawn from Kriti,a Delhi-based troupe of dance professionals,who seamlessly moved from Bihu to Jhumur to Jikir to Kathak. The dancers used Bihu and Jhumur to depict the Hindu-Muslim unity in Assam before the colonial troops arrived. The torture scenes were depicted through free-flowing body movements while the peoples protest used the intensity of Kathak.
The play begins with the hanging of Dewan by the British soldiers and proceeds to talk of his life in flashback. The recorded music uses several less-known Assamese musical instruments,from the huge temple drum called Doba to Gogona,a bamboo percussion instrument to the tuning-fork shaped Toka. The songs are drawn from the Hills,and includes Bhupen Hazarikas Dil Hum Hum Kare, says Kalita.
