Meaningful theatre shall kindle the consciousness of the audiences says Manjul Bhardwaj
Theatre shows mirror to the society since time immemorial says Manjul Bhardwaj
Jammu, 25th of September, 2020.
Today Natrang’s ‘International Theatre Talk Show’ witnessed the presence of Shri Manjul Bhardwaj, an eminent actor, director, writer and facilitator who is also the initiator of Theatre of Relevance Philosophy. He shared his ‘Vision of Theatre’ with the global audience on Natrang Jammu Facebook Page. Director Natrang, Padmashri Balwant Thakur expressed his gratitude towards the eminent theatre personalities of international repute who elevate the significance of this talk show with their intellect and inspirational vision. Though Natrang as an institution may not endorse each and all the ideologies being featured here, this platform offers due reverence to variegated visions and opinions. Thus, by attending this talk show regularly, one may get enlightened about the amazing field of theatre and Natrang always endeavours to connect with the people through different mediums.
Introducing Manjul Bhardwaj, Natrang’s artist Mohd. Yaseen informed that Manjul responds to national challenges and sets a national agenda through his philosophy of “Theatre of Relevance”. A well-known theatre thinker, playwright, director and actor whose play “Mera Bachpan” is instrumental in rehabilitation of 50,000 child labourers, Manjul is a theatre icon who has authored 28 plays and has been on stage for more than 16000 times at grassroots to elitist international levels. His plays “B-7”, “Vishwa – The World” & “Drop by Drop: Water” are premiered & performed more than 100 times in Europe. He is equipped with performing skills as an actor, director, writer, facilitator and initiator in theatre. He is a dreamer/visionary and has the positive attitude & skills to actualize the dreams. He has conducted more than 1000 “Theatre of Relevance” workshops for different organizations/Institutions etc. in 28 states of India and abroad. He has been invited for theatrical tours to Singapore and Germany and conducted more than 130 theatre workshops for several Theatre Groups/Institutions/Schools/Organizations in Germany, Austria and other countries in Europe. Theatre world in Europe regularly invites him to conduct workshops on “Theatre of Relevance”. Brandeis University, Boston USA sends students for internship to understand fundamentals, principles, concepts and processes of “Theatre of Relevance”. He has been working in theatre since last 28 years at grassroots level in rural & tribal parts, towns and Metro cities of India to the elitist international levels. He founded Experimental Theatre Foundation in 1992- a pioneer theatre movement in India. ETF – a laboratory of constructive change through theatre. He instills a positive attitude & strong will power to live among HIV infected & affected children, youth, women & men by developing performing teams on HIV & AIDS. By developing positive self-concept / image and breaking the stereotypical understanding of women in society he has facilitated the rehabilitation of 1500 women victims of sexual & domestic violence. His play “Laadli” dealing with the issue of “Sex Selection” (the homicide of female fetus) has been an eye opener- currently performed throughout INDIA. He has received the best actor award for his play “Door Se Kisi Ne Awaaz Di”. He is awarded with the certificate of “Citizen’s Council for Better Tomorrow” presented by the governor of Maharashtra. He is awarded UNFPA- LAADLI Media award for gender sensitivity for the year 2006-7 in “Theatre – Street Theatre” category.
In a very energetic session, Manjul praised the topic of the talk show i.e., ‘Vision of Theatre’ and expressed his vision with reference to various burning issues around us like Covid crisis, Globalization, Environment and more. For Manjul, theatre was created to save and liberate humans, is the mother of all arts and can work as a catalyst in society. It has the prowess to inculcate humanity in humans and make them conscious about their inner-self and also towards the world around them. Thus we shall kindle the consciousness of the audience by our meaningful theatre. Citing reference to the burning issues around us, and suggesting ways to raise them effectively through theatre, Manjul invokes that we dramatists are eternal journalists and we have been raising issues, facilitating reforms and being the mirror to the society since time immemorial. Metaphorically associating different colours (Rang) to different ideologies, Manjul allegorically terms theatre (Rangkarm) to be a medium of expression of different ideas and points of view and anything which does not represent a thought/vision is just an exhibition according to him. An ever resilient Manjul considers theatre to be a medium of change and betterment in society. In his words, ‘‘Artists’ attain enlightenment through the radiance of their art and not through the cravings of their belly. Purpose of an artist is not to merely fill their belly. Of course, that does not indicate that an ‘artist’ does not require basic necessities for livelihood. The one who claims to be an ‘artist’ must as well know the art of subsistence; except the ones queuing in the crowd of the employment seekers. An artist must understand the purpose of ‘art’. Art is conscience (awareness), a rebellion, a medium of humanizing human beings and sustaining humanity in them’. He also answered the questions of the participants very intelligently.
Those who are coordinating this mega online event include Anil Tickoo, Neeraj Kant, Suresh Kumar, Sanjeev Gupta, Vikrant Sharma, Sumeet Sharma, Aarushi Thakur Rana, Mohd. Yaseen, Gauri Thakur, Rahul Singh, Pankush Verma and Vrinda Sharma.
