The theatrical festival Bharatendu Natya Utsav will be hosted till 24 March, 2023, by Sahitya Kala Parishad. The 5-day long festival is an annual festival to encourage and provide a platform to actors, directors, and playwrights to showcase their art to theatre lovers who yearn for good visual performances and present innovative performing arts in front of the audience. The five best plays that were performed throughout last year are selected and they are being presented in this program on all five days. Organized for 40 years, this festival is a great platform for drama lovers. Atishi Singh, Minister of Art & Culture, Delhi, will be the festival’s chief guest this year.
Talking about the festival, Ms Atishi said, “It gives me immense pleasure to see events and festivals organized to highlight India’s performing arts tradition. Such forums allow artists, authors, directors, and other members of the Hindi theatre to showcase their work and get recognition. I’m looking forward to seeing all the plays that will be presented throughout the festival. I wish every artist the best of luck and hope that their brilliance is recognized worldwide.”
Each day one play will be showcased. On the first day, ‘Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein’ written by Jayvardhan and directed by J.P. Singh will be performed depicting a story about three old men who want to forget their past and live in the present. On the second day, Bhupesh Joshi directed the play ‘Mann Ke Bhanwar’ and written by Padmashree D.P. Sinha will be performed. Renowned Indian writer, poet, novelist Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan, popularly known by his pen name Agyeya’s Antaraal based on Nadi Ke Dweep will be performing on the third day of the festival. The main characters Bhuvan, Rekha and Gaura are intellectuals full of middle-class sensibility, modernity. But their biggest problem is that no matter how bold they think inside, they are unable to express it. This has been directed by Kabeer Khan and adapted by Rajnish Manni. The director has tried to highlight the inner life of these characters through various symbols, images and poems.