Our next production was Tughluq by Girish Karnad in 1979.
Karnad’s play took an exceptional significance for us in the context of the events which dominated the political scenario of the 1970-s – the birth of Bangladesh, the declaration of emergency, Indira Gandhi’s electoral defeat, the subsequent denunciation of her despotic regime, and the formation of the first non-congress government at the centre. Karnad, who wrote the play in the 1960-s, was interested not so much in the historical Tughluq, a man depicted as tan extravagantly eccentric tyrant prior to his re-evaluation by historians, - as in using the Sultan’s story to explore the towering personality of a contemporary statesman – Jawaharlal Nehru. Our production of Tughluq, however, involved a shift in focus, made necessary by the political upheaval of the 1970-s.
Credits –
Lights – Manoranjan Ghosh / Joy Sen
Music - Rathin Dey
Costume – Manu Datta
Stage – Kumar Roy
Translation – Chittaranjan Ghosh and Swapan Majumdar
Direction - Salil Bandyopadhyay
