Mallabhumi

Mukhosh’s new production is a dark and disturbing fable that revolves around the classic trio of the conventional fairy tale – a Rakshas (man-eating fiend), the all-conquering young Hero, and the Pakshi-raj (winged) horse that usually carries the hero to his victory over the Rakshas. But in our story, the settings are different. At the onset, we meet our Hero, who comes upon an old man sitting at the edge of a wrestling pit, awaiting eagerly the tussle between two legendary wrestlers that would commence at the break of dawn. A conversation ensues between the two, with no apparent intent in mind but to kill the remaining hours of the night, and the story unfolds – we get to know about the evil Rakshas and the devastation he causes in the state with his daily kills of innocent humans, as well as the mission of our young Hero to kill the Rakshas. The conversation is disturbed by the sudden intrusion of a strange creature, who talks like a human but has the head of a donkey, with “wings like a pair of whips” on his back – is this some strange perversion to the winged horse that was always the Hero’s vehicle in his fight against the Rakshas? Strange twists and turns follow as the audience is taken on a new journey in the fairy-tale genre, but one that is far more macabre than what we are accustomed to.

Shoorpanakha

This play attempts to look at the story of the Ramayana from a different point of view – that of the non-Aryans. Sita’s abduction by Ravan has been a bone of contention among the noblemen of his court, but their faith in their king has stopped them from speaking out against him. However, Ravan’s brother Bibhishan is not to be silenced by such an act of rashness and ‘immorality’ on his elder brother’s part, and he demands that Sita be returned to her husband immediately. Ravan retorts back with the argument that he has abducted Sita with the aim of avenging Shoorpanakha’s insult by Ram and Lakshman, and rebukes Bibhishan for failing to fulfill his duty towards their younger sister. Bibhishan, finding himself in a stiff corner, expresses doubt about Shoorpanakha’s character, and leaves the court in a huff, rebuked by all. A shattered Ravan manages to restrain himself from avenging Shoorpanakha’s insult on Sita, partly by his own basic courtesy and partly by his courtiers’ vow to be with him in avenging the insult on Shoorpanakha, which they consider an affront to the pride of the whole of Lanka. In comes Neebar, a ‘Shudra’, who has been enslaved by the Aryans in the process of their annexation of Dandakaranya, and to whom, Ravan’s act of kidnapping Sita has been glorious revenge on the Aryans for the great atrocities that they have commited on the non-Aryan women of Dandakaranya. Neebar beseeches Ravan not to hesitate to defile and torture Sita, and is disappointed when he sees the king’s good nature coming in the way of ‘Shudra’ vengeance. However, when Ravan asks Neebar to go ahead and avenge himself on Sita, Neebar realizes the barbaric aspect of the deed and the innate inability of the non-Aryans to stoop to such a level of inhumanity. The play ends on a high note with Ravan promising to take on the cause of the non-Aryans and fight a final momentous battle against the Aryans in the defence of their land and their liberty. Shoorpanakha is transformed into their mascot, and the woman in her continues to weep as a nation prepares for the last battle.