Drama and mythology

The Hindu : Entertainment Delhi / Drama: "In 'Yama Gatha', mounted recently in the Capital, the playwright makes excellent use of mythology to hit out against the current socio-political situation in the country, says ROMESH CHANDER.

In "Yama Gatha", the playwright makes excellent use of mythology to hit out against the current socio-political situation in the country. Indra of our mythology is the playwright's epitome of world power and Brahmana, Rishikul and the Raja are his tools to exploit the people and even kill those who oppose him. Religion is an important tool for him not only to exploit the people but even to kill those who oppose him. To fight Indra we have Vashishtha and Pururava who organise the people to fight for their rights. In Pururava, Indra sees a dangerous enemy and is afraid of his popularity among the people.

He tries to win him over through many temptations but fails and so has him killed in the name of religion. In the past we have seen quite a few plays that have tried to draw a parallel between mythology and the current socio-political scene with varying degrees of success but "Yama Gatha" brings the message home without being propagandist.

Gaurav Srivastava in Pururava's role, Naresh Kabir as Vashistha, Shiraz Khan as Indra stand out and of course Sapna Khatana in Ila's role and Amita Walia as Urvashi project well the question of feminine identity but one feels the playwright could have given the two characters a little more weight to underline the problem."