Play ‘Mi Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’ reveals untold instances of Savarkar’s life

Nagpur: To commemorate the 101st birth anniversary of Indian politician Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, the cultural front of BJP in Nagpur presented an autobiographical play to pay tributes to him. Upadhyaya was one of the most important leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the forerunner of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party.

The one-act play 'Mi Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar' was staged at Sai Sabhagruha on Tuesday evening. Nearly one hour thirty minutes long, the monologue attempts to highlight the journey of Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar in becoming 'Swatantra Veer' Sawarkar. Veteran Marathi theatre artiste Yogesh Soman has directed as well as acted in the monologue.

"Upadhyay was also a freedom fighter who used to work for the poor and downtrodden. But he was bypassed by the authorities. We want the present — day generation to know about him and be acquainted with his philosophy," organizer Madhavi Pande told TOI.

Mayor Nanda Jichkar was the chief guest at the event. Actor Devendra Dodke, state general secretary Ramdas Ambatkar, Senior BJP members Deven Dasture and Pramod Pendke were among some of the noted names at the event.

The play began with the character of Sawarkar himself coming on stage and addressing the audience directly. Soman perfectly embodied the freedom fighter, and attempted to put across his thoughts and philosophies by highlighting some of the major events in his life. Sawarkar started by talking about his father Bhagwati Prasad, a well-known astrologer. Both his parents died when he was eight-years-old and he was brought up by his maternal uncle. He also spoke of the hardships and abject poverty that he had to live through.

Sawarkar's philosophy of promoting Swadeshi goods, and lighting fire to foreign goods in the middle of the road, were some of the instances discussed in the play. His role in putting forth the case for India's independence on the international scene was also narrated.

Minimal property was used on stage, and there was only one spotlight focused on Sawarkar. A screen was placed to the left of the stage, which played videos in correlation to the narrative in the plot. Background score played throughout the play suitably engaged the audience in the storytelling.

Quotes

It was an interesting play which managed to receive more about Sawarkar's life. The videos helped me imagine the past

Manisha Nawathe | Insurance Agent

It was a brilliant experience, as the entirety of Sawarkar's journey was shown on stage

Adishree Deshpande | Writer

Yogesh Soman did a great job in bringing life to Sawarkar's character. We learnt many new things about the freedom fighter.

Girish Sontakke | College clerk