Jul 01, 2005 04:06 PM
19197 Views
(Updated Jul 01, 2005 04:19 PM)
Namaskar ! I'm Nathuram Godsay ! World recognises and remembers me as the one who ended Gandhi's life on January 30, 1948. Since that day me, Nahuram Godsay is alive. Gandhi died and Godsay born on that day. They hanged me for doing this particular act of ending Gandhi's life, but the Nahuram Godsay is alive today, he still exists.
When the lead actor Sharad Ponkshe playing Nathuram Godsay emerges as the Nathuram himself at the start of this Marathi play relatively unknown side of the history starts to unfold before the audience.
This play directed by the veteran marathi actor Vinay Apte introduces Nathuram Godsay as the anchor of the play. The person who has been mis-understood as the Villain in the Indian history unfolds his own story on the stage beginning with conception of his plan to end Gandhi's life and ending with him getting hanged till death.
Maine Gandhi ko nahi mara. Maine unka vadh kiya hai ! There are two types of people. First, the ones who understand to use right words at right places and the others are the ones who call it as twisting the words to suit the situation or to fill the gaps to conceal their ignorance and lack of knowledge.
Nathuram's statement Maine Gandhi ko nahi mara, maine unka vadh kiya hai followed by its valid explanation shows the shades of the character of Nathuram. If I say in English, I killed Gandhi or in Hindi, Maine Gandhi ka khun kiya then I'm a killer, I'm a sinner and I belong to the same genre of people who kill people for their own motives irrespective of the goodness or badness of the person who is being killed.
Whereas vadh is taking away life from the person who has committed grave crime e.g. Ram ne ravan ka vadh kiya, krishna ne kans ka vadh kiya. This particular statement may cause a furor in minds of people but this was the beauty of the play. The characterisation of Nathuram is done so lucidly and unambiguously that the furor over his act of terming Gandhi's assasination as Vadh never seem to arise.
The medium of Stage drama : Although the movies are enthralling and entertaining the whole of India for almost half century but the medium of a stage drama is powerful when it comes to conveying the message with a maximum surety that it will be digested then and there. Experiencing the actors playing in flesh, in front of you, a couple of feet away from you is itself very gripping and involves the audience.
This particular play utilises this direct mode of interaction with the audience in utmost power and makes us feel part of the historical event. The reason are several. Let me list them down.
Directorial skills of Vinay Apte : The director shines not only in making a better package of the whole concept of Nathuram but also goes forward to make this particular thing acceptable to your intellect. Pitching the character of Nathuram as the anchor for whole play, use of a small and simple set, use of a projector to show the historical monuments to relate the happenings and powerful dialogues makes Vinay Apte stand out in his own powerful way.
Shyam Ponkshe, the lead actor: How about playing a character of Nathuram who is considered largely by the majority of people around the world as Villain and in the end making his side clear on vadh of Gandhi was mammoth task and this actor has done it in a fine fashion. Although he was the one who taken away life from Gandhi, he never sounded to be anti-Gandhi. The person dies, but his thoughts stay back is the message that Nathuram always gives when he speak about Gandhi. But the reason to kill Gandhijee had to do something with the miseries suffered by the refugees after partition, Gandhijee's stance to let majority suffer for minority in that area and his persistant pressurising the Government for giving Pakistan benefit that they never deserved to be given.
Stage :The stage is made up of simple furniture like 2-3 chairs and a table alongwith a few staircases to use them accordingly to signify different event and places.
Balanced viewpoint : There was a huge trouble when this play was released in Maharashtra as it was conceived by a few people about projecting Nathuram as Hero and pulling down Gandhijee from his position. here it must be stated that this play never uttered any derogatory sentence against Gandhijee, on the other side praised Gandhijee for his noble thoughts.
Going forward it cleared the particular character of Nathuram Godsay among the people who had no idea or ill idea about this person.
Dialogues : You remove them and the play shall be an insipid piece of drama attempt. For portraying a powerful and highly intellectual person like Nathuram, showing a grand man like Gandhijee and explaining their thoughts to the generation after 50 years was done with equal power.
In the end: No person is above the nation. When he becomes above the nation and his thoughts overtake the priorities of the majority in the nation Nathuram will emerge somewhere ! In fact, the play starts with this particular concept.
