Stage Wars

Among the teams from all corners of the state,one is from MMCC . The group will be enacting a play titled Saawalya (Shadows). Nachiket Dhavalikar,the writer,says,“Saawalya is based on mind games. It is about a corrupt father and the related dilemma of his son.” Considering the protests against corruption and calls for the Jan Lokpal Bill,Saawalya will be a very relevant subject,feels Dhavalikar. “We didn’t have Anna Hazare and his movement in mind while directing the play. It is after he started his fast that Saawalya became popular. Our play is not a political one. Politics is just a medium,” says Piyush Kulkarni,the director of the play.

“Each team has been given an hour’s time to set up the stage,organise the lighting and complete the skit. A maximum of 16 members are allowed in one team,” says Hemant Vaidya,the secretary of Maharashtriya Kaloposak,Pune,that organises Purushottam Karandak.

Ahmednagar University students are in town with their play,Merit,which is a take on the pressures of academic life. “The protagonist of the play is a young kid who is coaxed by his parents to take up Science in junior college. The child wants to be an artist but because of the pressure from his parents,he struggles with science until one day he tries committing suicide. It is based on a true story,” says Mahesh Kale,the director. Kale has shown a positive end to the play – a friend takes control of the young student’s life. Ahmednagar University has been participating in Purushottam Karandak for the past four years consecutively. “We were extremely nervous while competing against the best teams of Pune. However,we are hopeful about this year,” adds Kale.

Fergusson College students are ready with Ravi Par,a play which tracks the Partition of India and Pakistan and the ordeal which people had to go through in 1947. Last year’s champions,MIT College of Engineering,will showcase the issue of unwanted pregnancies in the modern era. “We are showing case studies of three sections of the society – IT company couples,teenage couples and slum dwellers,” says Shweta Pethkar,the writer of the play,Serial Killer.