A scene from the play Obhat Naat. Picture by Eastern Projections

Playwright-novelist late Mahendra Borthakur has carved out a niche in the arena of Assamese theatre.

Borthakur’s work spans more than three decades. Through his creative pursuits he had dominated three main branches of theatre — Assam’s mobile theatre, amateur theatre and radio plays.

Hence it was indeed a pleasure to see the State Cultural Affairs Directorate pay homage to this eminent playwright by staging his play Obhat Naat at Rabindra Bhavan recently.

Originally a radio play, Obhat Naat deals with a series of chaotic events laced with vulgarity, often practised in present-day society in the name of culture and socio-cultural development.

The content of the play begins with a news conference held by a multi-national company to launch a series of programmes aimed at social welfare and creating socio-cultural awareness.

The news conference becomes a farce when some journalists, including a few editors, start behaving unethically. They guzzle liquor and behave in an unruly manner. This confuses the manager of the company who is hosting the press conference and throws him into a tizzy. He starts blabbering to his personal secretary who is also intoxicated.

At home the manager faces the wrath of his greedy, over-ambitious wife who hankers after material comforts in life. She wants to use her husband’s official position and status as a means to achieve her goal of leading a luxurious lifestyle.

At the office, the manager is compelled to welcome the event manager of the forthcoming company-sponsored marathon race organised to create social awareness.

The event manager, an illegal immigrant, poses before him as a person steeped in traditional values and culture of Assamese society. But, in reality, he often mispronounces the names of some of the great cultural icons of Assam. The manager is forced to assist him till the day of the marathon race.

Besides the runners and sportspersons, many a celebrity turns up for the race. Even the plump lady editor-proprietor of a daily does not miss the chance to appear in a skintight tracksuit.

As the race begins, most of the runners fall down, unable to jostle with the crowd.

Some celebrities get exhausted after running for a few minutes and speed away in their vehicles. This leads to accidents and chaos reigns supreme. Thus the event ends up as a failure.

The stage adaptation of this play, done by director Abinash Sharma, has aptly designed the scenes to bring out the essence of the play in a subtle but sensitive manner. The overall set design was simple and suggestive, enhancing the performance of the artistes.

Experienced Jayanta Das, in the role of the manager of the company, performs brilliantly. His dialogue delivery leaves a mark on the audience. Gabyanjali Das, as the personal secretary to the manager, puts in a convincing performance. Chetana Das, in the role of the lady editor, is impressive.

Experienced Bina Baruwati, in the role of the manager’s wife, does justice to her character.