Written and directed by Anuvab Dasgupta and produced by Shahoj, Dadur Natok spoofs Rabindranath Tagore’s Juta Abiskar and comes across as an energetic laugh riot if ever there was one. The text voraciously references a variety of other texts (music, OTT series, TV serials, printed fiction) to ultimately become a spicy concoction seasoned liberally with satirical wit. Right from the explosively fun-filled beginning to the very end, the play runs on the fuel of abundant youthful energy of the performers.
Dasgupta has assembled a throng of talented young performers who have evidently taken their job to make people laugh quite seriously. The choreography (Shamila C. Bhattacharya) deserves particular mention for marshalling a veritable crowd of choric performers in a manner that allows for the generation of great vigour without things becoming chaotic and random.
Most of the major characters were played out well by the respective actors, with Deep Kaizar Basu as Raja doing adequate justice to his meaty role. Others who stood out were Anamitra Chakraborty, Sourav R. Nath and Debayan Bhattacharya, each bringing in distinct quirks to etch out the characters. Amiya Chakraborty as Maha Montri started out shakily but gained confidence as the play rolled on. The live singing, anchored by Ahana Ghosh and Kabir Chattopadhyay, was effective in fixing the tonal light-heartedness that the text demanded0 with “Jhnater gaan” emerging as the most enjoyable number. The singers, however, must ensure that even a breakneck pace of the rhythm does not compromise clarity of enunciation of words and phrases.
Dadur Natok is not all mindless fun and frolic though, because it remains, at heart, a scathing critique of the blatant right-wing tendencies of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government. The chief minister of West Bengal is lampooned in a scene as well, probably to balance things, while the Left parties are virtually let off. The director may consider editing some sequences that tend to add flab and completely do away with innuendos that are patently vulgar.
