The play Bulleh Shah delves into the life of the poet and the most important chapters of Punjabi Sufi history

Sheetal

Kuldip Raj Sharma’s play Bulleh Shah, staged for two consecutive days at the Tagore Theatre, Chandigarh, was no less than time travel to the 17-18th century Punjab. More than that, the play called for a ‘journey within one’s soul’ — a by-product of knowing the life story of renowned Sufi poet and social reformer, Bulleh Shah.

On the colourful stage stood two lead characters, Shah Inayat, played by Kuldip himself, and his disciple, Bulleh Shah. As Jasvir Kumar successfully portrayed the life of Bulleh Shah, other characters too looked the part. Kuldip discreetly re-imagined each of his onstage character and with the assistance of make-up artistes, successfully took along the audience on this journey. On the other hand, Chainis Gill, heading the chorus team for this musical play, which involved folk musicians on tumbi and sarangi, added a new dimension to the narrative. The lighting team was managed by Abhishek Sharma.

The play focused on poet Bulleh Shah’s life from when he was 30-35 years old till his death, which, supposedly, are the most important chapters of Punjabi Sufi history. Shah was not just hailed as a poet of the people and reformer, but freely expressed his thoughts through poetry to propagate humanity over religion. From choosing a teacher from a low caste, dancing with transgenders and learning dance from Muradi Begum, Bulleh Shah led his life on his own terms. Sharma stressed upon the relevance of all those underlined themes in this biographical play, which he believed are still the issues pulling down humanity.

Sharma, who has worked in television, films and theatre, feels having worked in three medium, has helped him learn a lot. He shared, “For me, theatre is all about posture, gesture and voice. When performing on stage, there’s an audience watching you live and there’s no room for close-ups like in films or TV. So, I believe the intonation of voice and grand gestures or postures are the key to reach the last of the seated guests.” Bulleh Shah is Sharma’s second play with writer Karan Gulzar, The latter is a research scholar in the Department of Indian theatre, Panjab University. Sharma said one should always take out time for the development of the script before proceeding. Along with Karan, he had previously made the play, Luna, which was very successful.

(Bulleh Shah will be performed in Ludhiana on August 4. It will be presented by Ludhiana Sanskritik Samagam)