Khadu Lapata: A Garhwali Satirical Drama That Accelerated Garhwali Drama Movement

Garhwali Drama – 12

                       Khadu Lapata: A Garhwali Satirical Drama That Accelerated Garhwali Drama Movement   

         (Review of All Time favorite Garhwali Drama ‘Khadu Lapata ‘by playwright Lalit Mohan Thapliyal ‘ )

(Garhwali Drama, Garhwali Plays, Modern Garhwali Dramas, Modern Uttarakhandi Dramas, Modern Time Stage Plays of Uttarakhand)

                                Bhishm Kukreti

 

  The place of Lalit Mohan Thapliyal  as reverend in developing modern Garhwali dramas (specially satirical and comedy dramas) as Henry Fielding, Floyd Dell,  Honoree de Balzac, Sir James Mathew Barrie ,James Branch Cabell, A. Chekhov (Sea Gull) , George Colman , George Kaufman, N.V Gogol, William Dean Howell, Jerome K Jerome, Ben Jonson, Moliere, Seumas Brien, Eugene O Neil, George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair, August Strindberg , J.M Synge, William M Thackeray,  Soyinka,  Leo Tolstoy, Royall Tyler, Oscar Wild, Gao Xingjian, in the satirical and Comedy Drama literature.

          Lalit Mohan Thapliyal had a heritage of modern Garhwali dramas initiated by Pundit Bhavani Datt Thapliyal in 1912 and developed by dramatists  Char  Mitra Sukhanko (Pakhu), Vishwmbhar Datt Uniyal(Vasanti, 1932),  Ghana Nand Bahuguna (Samaj), Bhagwati Prasad Panthari (Adh Patan, Bhuton ka Khoh) and Jeet Singh Negi (lyrical drama Bhari Bhool)

   Lalit Mohan Thapliyal wrote ‘Khadu lapata’, Ancheryun Tal’, Ghar jvain and ‘Ekikaran’ etc. however, ‘Khadu lapata is all time favorite Garhwali comedy and satirical social drama. The comedy-satirical play ‘Khadu lapata’is staged in most of the cities where Garhwalis are in numbers as Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and towns of Garhwal.  As Norwegians are proud of Henrik Ibsen for developing Norwegian dramas, Garhwalis are proud of Lalit Mohan Thapliyal for developing and accelerating modern Garhwali dramas.

 Khadu lapata is one act stage play and is very crispy drama. By watching ‘Khadu lapata’, the audience definitely thinks that drama means that the life walks.

 The story is very simple that suddenly a character Hari Singh’s he goat disappears and Hari Singh comes to Pundit Ji (a Puchher (who tells future) and a doctor too) to know about where the goat gone. Later on two more patients also come to Pundit Ji for medical treatment as they ate goat mutton and got stomach upset. Hari singh suspects those ate goat meat and whose stomach was upset. At the end, Hari Singh comes to know the real culprit and he killed the culprit. A very fine story woven around the subject of misbelieves, the social evils entering into Garhwali village.

  The characterization is superb in the comedy and satirical drama Khadu Lapata. The dialogues of four characters in the one act play are as per the characteristics of character. The playwright used perfect phrases for attacking the social evils and creating humor in the play.

  There is full scope for director to adjust the emotions in the play as his /her need because; the performers can deliver the drama as serious and as hilarious depending upon director’s choice.  This author got chance to watch ‘Khadu Lapata’ staged by a Delhi team and by Mumbai team too.   Surprisingly, the Delhi team (Parashar Gaud etc) projected drama satirical but creating serious atmosphere and Mumbai team making ‘Khadu lapata’ more laud and hilarious performed by  by Dinesh Bhardwaj, Sushil Kukreti and Raman Kukreti .

 There is social message in the drama. However, no preaching is there in the satirical drama. There are opportunities of humor in the satirical drama ‘Khadu lapata, but Lalit Mohan took every care that the humorous dialogues sharpen the attack on social evils.

  The subject and dialogues are from the real life and both the intellectuals and common men enjoy the drama with ease.

  Sushil Kukreti a famous Garhwali drama comedian of Mumbai mentions,” For me, ‘Khadu lapata is a heaven as I performed three characters – Hari singh, Tulsi and Parma  barring Pundit Ji at different time and as for as performing is concerned,  I enjoyed every character of satirical -humorous drama  ‘Khadu lapata’. The best part of this satirical drama ‘Khadu Lapata’  is that the characters are from real life and their dialogues are of daily uses of a common village of Garhwal “

  The great Garhwali dramatist of Mumbai late Dinesh Bhardwaj wrote commentary on the drama,” Khadu lapata was first staged in October 1958 in Delhi. Garhwal Bhartri Mandal and Garhwal Chhatra Sangh staged this satirical, ever green ‘ Khadu lapata’ drama more than eight times in Mumbai and every time, the audience found it  fresh and enjoyable. The satirical drama ‘Khadu Lapata’ is one of the great dramas created in this earth.”

Raman Kukreti a social worker and a Garhwali dramatist of Mumbai states that the satirical drama ‘ Khadu lapata’ accelerated Garhwali drama movement in modern time.

Copyright @Bhishm Kukreti

Garhwali Drama, Garhwali Plays, Modern Garhwali Dramas, Modern Uttarakhandi Dramas, Modern Time Stage Plays of Uttarakhand to be continued …….