Bikhre Bimb (Odakalu Bimba)

I've been wanting to see this play for over a year now and finally made it to Rangashankara yesterday. What an AWESOME play it was! I am truly at a loss of words here. For the first time I felt that a play was worth a lot more than what it was priced for (100 bucks). Believe it or not, it runs full house every show even today, years after being created...

Bikhre Bimb, which means Broken Images, is a one-act play written and directed by Girish Karnad originally in Kannada and later translated into Hindi as well as English. Now, if the hindi version itself was so good, I am sure I'll love the Kannada one ("Odakalu Bimba") even more. Original versions always have the maximum impact, dont they? :)

For starters, Arundhati Nag is the sole actor of the play who delivers a spectacular performance leaving the audience mesmerized with her talent! The play is a portrayal of a professor & a kannada short story writer-Manjula Naik who achieves success, wealth and fame overnight with her bestseller novel in English. The script moves on to tap into her inner soul and slowly the story reveals the truth about her book, marriage and her personal life in a very intricate and powerful way. The television image, call it the character's self image, alter-ego, conscience or the inner soul, is like a co-actor on stage whose job is to interroagate the character to reveal her true self. At the end of the play, there is a blur created between the real and the self-image and you are unclear on where one starts and the other ends. The story by itself is not unique but the way technology is used (multiple TV sets on stage) to unveil the true story bit by bit and the PERFECT timing & co-ordination between the actor and her image on TV will just leave you speechless!! It was truly a wonderful experience watching Arundhati Nag's effortless yet brilliant performance on stage...

I was surprised to learn that this play was Girish Karnad's first directorial venture in the theater space. His understanding of the character and the plot is extremly intuitive and the language of the script is pure and marvelling. It's a true reflection of what a gifted playwriter he is.

If you are a theater person and you still haven't watched it, then what are you waiting for??? Make sure you dont miss out on the next show!!

You can book tickets online for the play at http://www.indianstage.in/