The play is a quick overview of the grand epic Mahabharata, told from different points of view of characters generally regarded as antagonists. It contains stories of characters that the mass usually neglects due to either their short appearances or the negative portrayal of their actions. Most of the story and major characters were absent from the drama and minor characters like Satyavati, Nakul and Sahdev have gained rather prominent roles as they try to tell their stories, from their perspective.
Popular, cliché villains such as Jarasansdha and Duryodhan have a completely different story to tell, questioning the motives of historians, the history perceived by the mass and the fairness of the judgement they receive. They ask the audience to think again after considering all the facts because there is not a single truth. The play continuously state the point through various elements that there are, apparently, several facts and hence, several truths.
The story, however, wasn’t in an attempt to revive those villains or revile the heroes of all the Indian mythologies. It was mentioned clearly that the attempt to neutralise the so-called villainy of those notorious characters will shed further light on the wrongdoings of the so-called heroes. Searching for all such answers, Villains of Mahabharata is a story of lost characters questioning the foundation of the blames put upon them.
Date: 6th July 2015
Time: 4 PM & 7:00 PM
Venue: Bhartendu Natya Academy, Lucknow
Cast: Anurag Mishra, Pooja Singh, Shilpi Sinha, Suyash Bajpai, Pradeept Mani Tiwari, Devesh Singh Bora, Atul Mane, Jeevan Singh Rawat, Pragya Mishra, Hema Bhatt
Writer: Masto
Director: Apurva Shah
