Ek aur Birbal resurrects hero from history

Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, June 14

The Vemedh Rangmanch, Jammu, staged a play ‘Ek aur Birbal’ on the day two of the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir theatre festival, organised by the NZCC Patiala and the CSNA, at Tagore Theatre here on Thursday.

Written by Rakesh Roshan Bhat and directed by Rohit Bhat, the play saluted the vision and valour of visionary Pandit Birbal Dhar, a tax collector in the royal Mughal court of Afghan Governer Azim Khan in 1812 AD. The play chronicled the sequence of events, such as Birbal being forced by tyrant Azim Khan to recover unethical heavy tax amount from the Kashmiri Pundits, but Birbal’s conscience prevailed and he revolted to take on the governor at the cost of losing his wife and mother.

Pandit Birbal Dhar approached and convinced Maharaja Ranjit Singh at Lahore to save Kashmiri Pundits and general public of Kashmir. The benevolent Maharaja attacked the Mughal Army and forced Azim Khan to run to Afganistan. The play relied largely on the narratives with background music and costumes suggestive of the Mughal splendour of the 18th century.