Cut to Kashmir

From scenic images to the picture of a war torn land,some snow-clad mountains and many barbed wire fences,director Mohit Takalkars image of Kashmir was replete with such elements until he had a tryst with the land itself.

From scenic images to the picture of a war torn land,some snow-clad mountain s and many barbed wire fences,director Mohit Takalkars image of Kashmir was replete with such elements until he had a tryst with the land itself. Four months of theoretical and practical research for his play Kashmir Kashmir that opens in the city today,had the director treading the by lanes of the turmoil struck state. The directors latest project with playwright Ramu Ramnathan,Kashmir Kashmir is an attempt to disperse the mist cloaking the issues related to the state. For the play,Takalkar had a rendezvous with the war torn valley. Before directing the play I wanted see Kashmir. The Kashmir issue is largely hazy and confusing in the mind of the average Indian like me who has not lived in Kashmir. I can even dare to say that many,including me have chosen to remain ignorant about Kashmir so I decided I will explore its nook and corner.

From Budgam,Bijbehara,to Anantanag and Naina,Takalkar lived with the local people,savoured on ristas,kebabs and biryanis,walked past army men with guns staring at every ten feet and witnessed the place growing on him with every passing moment.

It was eye opening,shattering and disturbing. Basic facts pertaining to this issue are well established. However,there has been a concerted dis-information campaign that presents a distorted historical account of the developments that led to the irrevocable accession of the state of Jammu & Kashmir to India; the subsequent wars inflicted by Pakistan on India and the current situation in the once tranquil and beautiful Kashmir Valley, Takalkar says. According to him the play is a concoction and trailer of the many issues that plunder the states tranquility.

The protagonist of the play is a hotel in the middle of nowhere. The multiple story lines are borne along by a shadowy narrator who seems to represent historical influences. The hotel is the metaphor that paints the plight of the state and its disturbing situation. The play speaks through a metaphorical languagethat includes not just anecdotes on the complex issue of Kashmir but more than that it makes us understand the complexity through strong irony and farce being created by the metaphors. I must admit that the play has germinated in Ramus mind and has been put on paper by him alone. I am grateful to him for allowing us at Aasakta to stage the play, he says.

(Kashmir Kashmir opens today at 7:30 pm at Symbiosis Vishwabhawan)

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Cut to Kashmir

From scenic images to the picture of a war torn land,some snow-clad mountains and many barbed wire fences,director Mohit Takalkars image of Kashmir was replete with such elements until he had a tryst with the land itself.

From scenic images to the picture of a war torn land,some snow-clad mountains and many barbed wire fences,director Mohit Takalkars image of Kashmir was replete with such elements until he had a tryst with the land itself.