Kanyadaan

Do not influence others. Especially subliminally. Especially with ideals which you have internalized after prolong profound pondering. That’s what Nath Devlalikar does. He makes his life an experiment in ideology, and lives to live the tragic consequences. Walking out of Prithvi Theater, I felt an almost biological urge to wail out the anguish I felt for the fallen hero.

Vijay Tendulkar’s Kanyadaan is the most hard-hitting play I have seen. Tragedy and irony have never come together so well. The motif of victim morphing to victimizer is brought in a brilliant fractal like way. Son-in-law torturing the daughter to victimize the ‘other’ society. Daughter comparing her ideological upbringing to a kind of crippling that she can never revert out of. The former acknowledged, the latter acted out brilliantly.

Adding to all the motifs and superb acting – is the strikingly powerful overarching theme itself. The inability to live a life the one preaches, and live it to completion, at whatever cost — that’s what hit me. I remain hit.

And so…..don’t preach.

3 thoughts on “Kanyadaan

  1. hey, saw ur blog today. Kanyadaan is gr8! Tendulkar is one of my most favs. I will suggest u to read/watch more by Vijay Tendulkar. I am not sure but there wud be translations of his plays in english.

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