NSD’s Bharat Rang Mahotsav: Ten must-watch women-oriented plays

National School Drama's annual fest that kicked off on Sunday, is on till February 18.

Chitrangada: Written by Rabindranath Tagore and directed by Abinash Sarma, this Assamese play has roots in Mahabharata. In the epic, Chitrangada is one of Arjuna's wives. Kaviguru Rabindranath Tagore took the story of Chitrangada and, in 1892, turned it into a dance drama.

Nagmandala: Nagamandala expresses a woman's understanding of the reality around her. The play takes on the supernatural world to symbolically portray how a woman's power emerges through the metamorphosis of a serpent. This Bengali play is written by Girish Karnad and directed by Abanti Chakraborty.

Bipannata: Bipannata, a Bangla play, written by Debatosh Das, and directed by Sohini Sengupta, is the story of the helplessness of Sulagna Dutta, a woman in her late 50s, a widow and a single parent.

Joymoti: Written and directed by Anup Hazarika, this Assamese play is about an iron lady of 17th century Assam history, who with her fortitude and self sacrifice entirely changed the course of destiny of the ‘Ahom Empire’ when the atrocious ruling of a certain class of the Ahom royal family were about to lead the entire Ahom kingdom to its doom.

Ma Aak Nirvik Soinik Play: Written and directed by Koushik Kar, the Bengali play is about a mother who tries to inflit in her only son, Kohel, the seed of the eternal virtue of love. It is her continuous fight to protect her son under the warmth of her safe apron strings from the ill-effects of war-loving King Bumbujang or against the shimmering of sharp weapons of the Souramati King.

Punar Jani: This Malayalam play, written by Rajarajeshwari Easwaran, and directed by Sudhi Devayani, travels in and out of the stories of three women who were killed at different places and time. The ‘stories’ of their deaths can be told in many ways and given many reasons-domestic violence, sexual violence et al. The play wants to find out the inner thoughts of these women as countless women through the centuries have suffered violence and brutality.

Umrao (Based on Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s Umrao Jan Ada): She does not know how to yield a sword...she does not know how to wage a war yet she has a spirit that yearns to do something...anything...and so what does she do? She leaves the Kotha...she lets go of the safety chains and steps out as an independent young woman seeking her own destiny and individual identity ...hundred years ago. Written by Purva Naresh and directed by Hidayat Sami, this Hindi play is soul-stirring.

C Sharp C Blunt: The main protagonist of this play, directed by Sophia Stepf, is a mobile phone application. Meet Shilpa, an attractive, interactive and user-friendly mobile phone application that has been projected to be the most popular mobile applications of 2013. Created, incorporating the latest technology, Shilpa will sing for you-in the flesh.

The Nude: A young and unclothed woman, Patachara, enters the place where The Buddha was temporarily staying with his entourage. The Buddha, at once understands her state of mind. He decides to bring her back to a condition where she can recollect the events which had brought her to this state of being. Written by Karuna Deka, and directed by Baharul Islam, it is an Assamese play.

To Kill Or Not to Kill?: The multilingual (Hindi, English and Assamese) play, written and directed by Ovlyakuli Khodjakuli, attempts to see a male character (Hamlet) and a female character (Medea), who had gone through the power struggle of their respective genders and were also the victims of extreme violence.