Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, June 22: Natrang’s globally acclaimed Dogri play ‘Bawa Jitto’ enlivened the audience at Aghar Jitto Mela with its electrifying performance which was witnessed by thousands of the audience.
Ravindra Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Reasi was the chief guest on the occasion whereas AH Ansari, General Manager, Salal Power Station, Jyotipuram, was the guest of honor. The show was logistically supported by district administration and J&K Tourism.
Written by Prof Ram Nath Shastri and innovatively designed, conceptualized and directed by Balwant Thakur, this culturally vibrant play magically transported among thousands of the devotees and the pilgrims of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi to a 15th century old saga of supreme sacrifice of a poor farmer who gave his life in fight of justice and exploitation by the landlords.
The tragic story of Bawa Jitto portrays the age-old saga of exploitation of landless farmers by landlords. Due to the constant and persistent pressures of relatives, with a piece of land as bone of contention, Bawa Jitto, a hard working, farm less farmer is forced to leave his native village.
Accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter, he takes shelter in the house of a friend in Shamachak, a nearby village. The efforts of his friend Rullo result in a land grant from landlord in Shamachak and one fourth of the produce is fixed as land revenue. The hard work put-in by him, the sweat and toil of Jitto turns a barren land into prolific treasure.
This makes avaricious landlord to back out on his words and ask for major share of the crop. Helpless Jitto, unable to endure injustice, kills himself. The agony becomes boundless when Gauri, his little daughter immolates herself on her father’s pyre.
Girdhari Lal and Harbans lal, the folk artists rendered soul to the play with their ‘Karkan’ singing. The role of Bawa Jitto was played by TV/Film celebrity and stage actor Arvind Anand. He was supported by senior actors like, Renu Sharma as Jojan, Dimple Sharma as Mehta Beer Singh, Anil Tickoo as Malli, Vijay Bhat as Ghaghi and Sarpanch, Subash Jamwal as Raja, Rahul Singh as Isso, Neeraj Kant as Rullo Mohd Yaseen as Buddha and Aadmi in a highly professional manner.
Another noteworthy performance was staged by young Sanchita Dubey as Bua Gauri and Shivika Verma as Jeuni. The lights of the play were designed and executed by Suraj Ganjoo and sound was professionally audio- graphed by Tilak Raj.
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