Rajashree Theatre’s banner play Bandhu is soaring high on the popularity charts this season thanks to the smart presentation style and impressive performance by the actors.

In fact, these qualities have also been observed in the other popular plays of the troupe — Mumtaz Mahal, Maa Aru Mummy and Satya Heraal Kot.

The success of these plays is proof enough that the producer of the troupe, Chakradhar Deka, a serious playwright-director himself, who also has feature films to his credit, has been able to win over the masses.

As mass acceptance is the ultimate determining factor, so more and more mobile theatre producers are banking on vulgarity and gimmicks to sell their plays. Moving away from these themes, Deka has made a conscious effort to stage only those plays which have a socially-relevant storyline and intense dramatisation. With seasoned actors like, Pranjit Das, Champak Sarma, Jonali Devi, Haren Malakar and Binu Kalita, Deka is bound to hit the bull’s eye.

Bandhu, as its name suggests, tells the story of two close friends — one is a policeman while the other is a clerk in an insurance company. The clerk’s wife dies mysteriously, leaving behind a huge amount of life insurance money to her husband, who is the nominee. The police suspect foul play. However the police officer tries his best to prove his friend’s innocence. But an untoward incident forces the clerk to run away, taking with him the money, his daughter and his aunt.

He settles down in a place far away and converts to Islam. Years down the line, his police officer friend lands in the same place after securing a promotion. On discovering that his daughter has fallen in love with his friend’s son, the clerk surrenders to the police.

Even though the play has a common storyline, Bandhu stands out for its powerful dramatisation of the storyline involving new sub-plots. Playwright-director Hemanta Dutta scores with his flawless presentation of the play. Pranjit Das in the role of the clerk-turned-Muslim messiah, presents a spellbinding performance. He is well supported by Champak Sarma in the role of the police officer. Parag Sarma and Jonali Devi deserve special mention.