The IIS University presents Annual Play “Ek Bhoot Ki Atmakatha”

Play showcases hypocrisy of the society

23rd September 2019: Jaipur: Shahjahan commissioned the Taj Mahal to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal but does anyone know the people who constructed this beautiful architecture, probably not. Likewise, many autobiographies are being written in which others condemnation finds equal place as of self praise. But many stories of inspiring people left unheard because there is nothing written about them. In the meanwhile, Devil, a ghost decides to write an autobiography who believes that intelligence lies in finding foolishness in others. But his autobiography takes what turn when he gets to meet Gandharva is the story of a play “Ek Bhoot Ki Atmakatha” staged by the students of Theartical Society of IIS (Deemed to be University) on Monday at India International School Auditorium.

‘Ek Bhoot Ki Atmakatha’ is the dramatization of a famous Telugu novel by K.N.Y. Patanjali. Written originally as Okka Deyyam Atmakatha, the stage version is written by Mahesh Ghodeshwar and Shiv Kumar Tumu is the director of the play.

The play is a political satire that comments on the hypocrisy of the society that we live in. Son of a king will become the king whether he is capable enough of holding the position or not, is the long live tradition in our society. This is a story of a Devil, who is immensely self contended writing his autobiography. But when the Gandharva shows him the real mirror of human society through different stories in the form of animal characters, Devil quits writing his autobiography.

The Gandharva tells four stories each one of them contains a social message which forces Devil to think how immature he is and there is a lot of learning he has to go through before writing an autobiography. The play is well written and well narrated. Action sequences were presented in the form of dance which was quite appealing and entertaining. The stage set up, lighting, look and costume of different animal characters made the play realistic especially the climax of the play was mesmerizing and a visual treat to eyes.

A lot of entertaining factors were incorporated such as the one when Devil describes different types of Ghosts for example with hair and without hair ghost. Use of English, Marvari languages brought laughter among audience.

The defining quality of this entertaining show was obviously its cast. The dialogue session between Jyoti Sharma as Devil and Vritika Dhabhai as Gandharva glued everyone to their seats. Comic timing of Jhanvi Rathore as Topi was splendid. The performance by Priyal Mathur as Toti was much convincing. Director, Shiv Kumar Tumu not only wanted audience to take away atleast one social message put forth by this play but it was equally important for him that the actors of the play must feel matured and sensible while acting in it. This is the reason that director had encouraged the students to explore what meaning the characters might hold in the 30 days long workshop.

Film, theatre and Television Actor Ms. Ratna Pathak Shah was the chief guest on the occasion. Ms. Shah applauded the artists’ performance in the play and persuaded them to pursue acting as she had seen a great potential in them.

Dr. Ashok Gupta, Vice-Chancellor of the university has congratulated everyone associated with this play for putting their heart and soul into it to make it successful. He also distributed participation certificates to the students.