23rd National Theatre Festival concludes

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 2

The youngest wife of last Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh and mother of Prince Duleep Singh, Maharani Jind Kaur, famously known as Rani Jindan, was an example of beauty and resilience against the British. The concluding day of the 23rd National Theatre Festival on Wednesday was dedicated to the history of the last of the Sikh monarch as a team of Rangmanchkari Multicultural Theatre Group, Melbourne, Australia staged a play titled ‘Maharani Jinda’.

The play, written and directed by Kewal Dhaliwal, was a biographical account of Maharani Jind Kaur, who was a stubborn, passionate, sharp-eyed personality and a key political and historical figure as she tried to protect her son, Prince Duleep, from the British as the reigns of the Sikh empire lay bare.

With a central narrative on how Jinda did not believe in the British and wanted Sikh and Khalsa warriors to joins hands to revolt and re-establish Sikh empire after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the play cut between historical snippets starting from the love story between Jinda and Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the birth of their son Duleep, moving towards the revolt by the queen and separation of her son by the British. The play was a drama full of emotions, a story that showed how the game of loyalties, betrayals and vested interests played a part in ending the Sikh empire. It also presented a powerful expression of the eternal bond between a mother and her son, the most fearless woman of the 19th century who became a symbol of her times.

A special guest on the concluding was Uday Pratap Singh, director of film ‘Shayar’, who lauded the actors and direction of the play.

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