Review: Habib Tanvir's 'Charandas Chor' by SABHA @ SSC

Charandas Chor: Thefts...Promises…and much more…

[*I am no one to present a critique on this but I have been compelled by the stuff I just saw, being a part of the audience. So, here’s my review of the SSC Sabha’s adaptation of Habib Tanvir’s classic ‘Charandas Chor’.]

After dark, complicated and sort of ‘Freudian’ stuff put up on it quite recently, the St. Stephen’s College Hall stage was in dire need of a light comic drama which would soothe the ‘nerve’ of the audience. Enter ‘Charandas Chor’- the loveable, humorous and (not to mention) ‘honest’ thief brought from the legendary writer Habib Tanvir’s story to life onto the stage by the Sabha. The play, titled the same as its protagonist, has been directed by Monica Thomas and Ankita Srivastava commendably.

The play, according to me, was a huge risk as this story had been adapted quite a few times- the most famous of them being the film ‘Charandas Chor’ (1975) by Shyam Benegal. But the play’s script is very subtle from the film; it has been efficiently modernized (some characters have been modified- for example: the Princess changed to Politician).

Now, the play starts with Charandas (Ravindra) attempting suicide- a brief glimpse of what was about to happen in the end. Blackout. Then follows the chase between the Policeman (Harshajith) and Charandas. This scene actually set the mood of the audience. Especially, the physical comedy by Harshajith and Ravindra’s expressions while being beaten up by the former are worth mentioning. After the superb chemistry of the cop and the thief, there is ‘the five promises’ part (in which the Baba, played very convincingly by Vaibhav, forces Charandas to make a promise in addition to the four he had already made) which is integral to Charandas Chor’s story. The adventure thus begins. How the days change for the chor…How the five promises turn out to be a menace for Charandas…And where he ends up- are some of the many questions that the tale answers as it proceeds.

Characters played by Suvartha, Jasroop, Rochan, Paro etc (I forgot other names. Really sorry.) are new additions. The character of the Politician is in place of the Princess. It is powerfully portrayed; as was needed from perhaps the only significant female part in the play. Special Mention: the red-beacon car formed by people draped in white- a magnificent technical ‘living’ prop!! And of course, the best thing about the play was the flawless transition between scenes- courtesy: light and sound department headed by Jordan. The only glitch I found was the prolonged shouting of slogans in the start.

My personal favourite part was the climax- when everything just ends abruptly. That’s actually how death comes and not how it is portrayed in some plays with so much melodrama. In the end, it’s quite visible from Charandas’ plight how people get caught in the vicious circle of the powerful and the influential.

All in all, it was an hour well spent. I enjoyed thoroughly. Want to thank the Sabha for staging this amazing story and through its nuanced setting making it their own.  This Chor’s story ended up stealing many hearts.