Hum Bihar Mein Chunav Ladh Rahe Hai, a socio-political satire based on the writings of Harishankar Parsai, looks at the games that Indian politicians play
Director and presented by Vijay Kumar, the play, Hum Bihar Mein Chunav Ladh Rahe Hai is based on a story, which depicts the deceitful intentions of politicians and how they exploit the masses; provoke them in the name of caste, creed, religion, and customs. The play is based on the columns of Harishankar Parsai (1970s) on Bihar politics. It revolves around Lord Krishna, who represents the innocent, ignorant layman of Bihar. Though the story and the incidents take place in Bihar, it represents the whole of India.
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Vijay Kumar at a performance of Hum Bihar Mein Chunav Ladh Rahe Hai
“Bihar gives India the maximum number of labour. It also has the maximum number of readers for Hindi content. People perceive the state as backward only because of the political scene,” reveals Kumar.
“The political scenario today, including parties and their ideologies, has changed a lot, but the problems remain similar. We have kept the essence of the original writing and added a contemporary tone to it,” he shares.
A voter holds up her voting card before casting her ballot at a voting centre in the village of Banbira, Bihar on October 12, 2015. pic/AFP
The play has 15 short songs comprising original compositions and a few based on Folk music. The musical instruments that accompany these songs will include dholak, harmonium, bansuri and manjira. The director plays 25 characters in this play.
“We improvise all the time. This time we have added recent events like the banning of a Ghulam Ali concert in Mumbai, the Prime Minister’s speeches and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s reactions to it. This helps people identify with the play,” he shares.
When asked about the emerging scenario where people seem to have become overtly sensitive to views on communities and political beliefs, Kumar replies, “I have no hidden political agenda. We have had people from political parties watch the play, and most felt we were balanced.
It’s easy to get into controversy with a subject like this. Our biggest challenge is to gauge the audience and figure out which jokes will work with them.”
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