Noxibacho Khell, an average tragedy
By RON FIDELIS

NOTHING new and interesting was seen in the tiatr Noxibacho Khell or ‘Fate,’ which was performed before a packed audience, at Kala Academy, on December 11. A Kala Mandir, Merces production, directed by Dayanand Govekar, the tiatr focused on the role of providence in the life of a family, which eventually culminates in tragedy. This in turn, creates a melodrama and gives scope for a bit of loud acting. This however, was also due to the old style of acting used by the performers.

The tiatr had some excellent sets done by Kamlakant Chari, which resulted in the first scene stealing the show. It showed a side view and the entrance of the house, adjacent to the neighbouring compound, displaying a tree and a well, brilliantly exhibiting a typical village with a 4 member family, having below average income. The ‘Pai’ or father played by Girish Jalmi is quite old and a sick man having no wife but two daughters and a son, Kenny played by Peter de Merces. The older daughter Nisha played by Maria Martin, is a sober character, although very caring, especially towards her younger sister, Alisha, played by the child artist, Elvina, who incidentally did a marvelous job out of her role.

The play is focused on another rich household, where Nisha gets married. She has a very dominating and rude mother-in-law, Donna Laura, (Angela Dias) who couldn’t do proper justice to her role, may be due to lack of efforts from the director as well. Donna Laura, supposed to be an elite, is a snob and a powerful woman having two extra-obedient sons, who would go to any height to obey their mother. Jerson (Augusto D’Souza), a physically handicap person and Sunny (Francis Pais), both playing the sons did a commendable job.

The plot of the play was basically an old concept-‘Harassment of daughter-in-law for dowry,’ with Nisha getting beaten up, at her husband Sunny’s home, at the hands of Donna Laura and Sunny. Alisha, Nisha’s younger sister incidentally gets killed, during one of Donna Laura’s plots, to kill Nisha. However, no action is taken due to her wealth and power. Then Nisha get
strangled and her body is burnt in the kitchen by Sunny and Donna Laura, leaving behind ‘Pai,’ with the grief of having lost both daughters and not being able to do anything about it and accepting it as his Noxibacho Khell. And if that wasn’t enough, it so happens that just as he gets the news of his daughter’s mishap, his only son comes running into the house being chased by cops and gets caught, on charges of committing a murder and robbing one lakh rupees, in order to satiate mother-in-law’s greed.

The climax introduces another well-etched scene, where the father argues with the police for allowing kenny to bid farewell to his sister, at her burial, but is denied the opportunity by the cops, who take away Kenny. Finally the tiatr ends with the death scene of ‘Pai,’ due to the heart attack, as he is unable to bear his loss.

Although a lot of hype surrounded the tiatr, its tragedy scenes gave it a good flow. However the weakness shown in the department of acting, left much to be desired. The side track was a good asset of the tiatr, with the comedy based on accents and gestures presenting farcical pieces.

The supporting cast comprising of Minguel Dias, Josephine, Anacelta D’Souza, Shekhar Usgaonkar and Ritin Fernandes succeeded in entertaining the audience.

The songs too helped till a certain extent, for elevating the production, but not as effectively. The song presented by the young artist was excellent and went well with the audience, but a song by Minguel Dias was the best of the lot, with some interesting
yodeling. All-in-all a so-so effort, which could have been much better, if handled properly!

NAVHIND TIMES