Play highlights feudal system horrors

Amritsar, July 3

The third day at the ongoing National Theatre festival being hosted at Virsa Vihar, play ‘Baagiya Bancha Ram Ki’, written by eminent Bengali playwright Manoj Mitra and directed by Preetpal Rupana, was presented.

A story of strength and pride against the backdrop of the feudal system that still prevails in the rural India, an elderly Bancha Ram, protagonist, struggles to save his garden from two generations of landlords. Though physically frail and old, Bancha Ram successfully has been evading the greedy quest of the previous landlord’s son to grab his small garden patch, his sole source of income.

Haunted by the ghost of the elder zaminder, Bancha Ram is firm in his resolve to be his own master, while the younger landlord uses all his trickery to persuade Bancha Ram in giving ownership of the land to him. Underplaying tones of feudalism, exploitation of poor and farmers by landlords, power play and social inequality, the play is a powerful satire on how the table can turn for the mighty if the oppressed retaliate, not with power but with patience and resilience. Soon, the younger landlord strikes a deal with Bancha Ram to share the ownership, while paying a measly sum as profit. But through his wit, intelligence and resolve, Bancha Ram soon become wealthy and robust, to the surprise of landlord, who suffers from diseases and soon succumbs to them.