Mahatma Gandhi’s contributions to India’s foundational principles are underlined time and again. The story of how he formulated these, and the lesser-known ones, is much more intriguing. Fondly known as the Father of the Nation, he was also a father to four sons – Harilal, Ramdas, Manilal and Devdas.
The third day of the festival witnessed a play – Gandhi Viruddha Gandhi – based on a novel written by Dinkar Joshi, adapted by Ajit Dalvi and translated into Hindi by Anuya Dalvi. Performed by the artistes from Rangrupiya Theatres, Indore and directed by Chaitanya Shah, this play digs deeper into a lesser known aspect of Gandhi’s life, his constant struggle with his son, Harilal.
Growing up with a towering figure such as Gandhi as a father put a lot of unwarranted expectations and baggage on Harilal, Gandhi’s eldest son. The play very intricately weaves their relationship, which oscillates between a mutual love for each other and a constant criticism of the other’s ways. Gandhi applies his principles on his family as strictly as he does on others, which often leads to resentment. Kasturba, often figures a way to deal with Gandhi’s difficult personality, but Hiralal fails at it miserably.
Gandhi doesn’t take nepotistic demands by his son to fruition, and doesn’t help him study further. The fallacy of Gandhi being a barrister himself, who discourages his own son from studying law and instead asks him to join his movement, throws light on the complexity of the problem Gandhi faced as a parent, and as a result his sons suffered through it.
This constant neglect of his son’s ambitions leads to a permanently damaged relationship between the two, pushing Hiralal further into the abyss of self-harm and destruction. He retaliates by shifting out, changing religions, getting drunk and smearing Gandhi’s name in his misdeeds and eventually turns up intoxicated to meet his mother, who finally loses hope with him.
The play very beautifully shows the progression of both the father and the son, through changes in their lives – played by three different actors each. It is also heartening to see the actors delve deeper into the psyche of Gandhi as a father, and the turmoil which Hiralal constantly finds himself in. The performances are natural and free-flowing and constantly pull you into the life of these characters. The three stages of Gandhi played by Ashish Sharma, Deepak Waghmare and Anurag Mishra beautifully compliment the time and journey of Gandhi. The three actors who play Hiralal – Palash Tiwari, Ankit Jat and Chandrashekhar Kuril – have each chosen a particular aspect of him and have beautifully portrayed Hiralal in his respective stage of life. Kasturba, portrayed by Shivani Gupta oscillates between a mother worried for her son to a dedicated worker in the movement of Gandhi, which is very intricately portrayed.
The narrative is weaved like episodic paintings which have a life of its own. The music in the performance, however, needs some polishing and the light design needs to be a lot more thought-out. But the technical aspects of the play take a back seat when the ensemble of the cast is brilliant and the characters so well etched out. Rangrupiya Theatres should be lauded for a meaningful performance where honesty and rigour make all the difference.
