The Guardian

Somtimespassion is enough to make the world go round, and sometimes that is THE thing that makes the world go round.

Kewal Dhaliwal is living his dream by bringing back glory to Somtimespassion is enough to make the world go round, and sometimes that is THE thing that makes the world go round. Either ways some people ensure that whether or not they have anything else going their way, they will never fall short of this ingredient. Kewal Dhaliwal is one of those few people. This Amritsar based theatre director was in town for the fifth Gursharan Singh Naat Utsav. 8220;Dreams die without passion, no artist can afford that,8221; smiles Dhaliwal whose theatre group Manch-Rangmanch is a platform for intellectual exchanges, an institution dedicated to social change and a desired destination of artists.

Dhaliwal brought to Chandigarh 8216;Dhamak Nagare Dee8217;, based on the heroics of Dulla Bhatti 8211; a folk legend of Punjab. 8220;In line with the festival8217;s theme, the play epitomizes social change. Dulla Bhatti lead an agrarian revolution against Akbar by refusing to pay taxes for the land he owned and ploughed. If you look at the current scenario in Punjab, the play is still relevant today where farmers are committing suicides due to burden of taxes et al,8221; explains Dhaliwal who started his career with Gursharan Singh. Though the National School of Drama, Delhi, opened many avenues for him, Dhaliwal chose to stick to his roots and work in Punjab. 8220;I was clear about theatre before I joined NSD. I am not against films but it8217;s theatre that I express through the best.8221;

His biggest challenge has been bringing Punjabi language theatre at par with other regional theatres of the country. 8220;I started theatre activities in Amritsar when terrorism was at full swing. But getting Punjabi theatre the same respect as Marathi or Bengali theatre got proved equally hard. Unlike them we don8217;t have ticket system in our part of the country. Despite that we have moved beyond them. Now not only Manch-Rangmanch, but groups like Punjab Naatshala and Rangmanch Bhawan are flourishing without government aid,8221; says Dhaliwal, happy that Punjabi is gaining popularity nationally and internationally.

Wearing the director8217;s hat for more than 100 plays and acting in more than 150, Dhaliwal looks back with content. His journey so far has been that of freedom with experimentation. He calls it 8216;total theatre8217;, 8220;meaning that every form is combined in my theatre, be it street, mime, modern, biographies, film scripts or even if a painting inspires me I8217;ll bring it under the arc lights. I believe that when I can create something I should go ahead with it, but it has to sound convincing to the audience too,8221; Dhaliwal points out.

Refusing to be bound by a theme, his plays, however, always leave behind a thought. Hence the recent production 8216;Main Punjab Bolda Haan8217;, 8220;it8217;s about all that we are losing 8211; kudiyan, chirhiyan, Punjabiyat8230;it8217;s high time we took care of what8217;s ours.8221; Muse on that.