By Roman Bhasin
Mythological drama and theatrical plays have always had a knack for them amongst the audience and with a change in the time it’s execution has become a broader empathy too.
Television and Bollywood actor Imran Khan has taken upon his shoulders to carry this legacy forward with his upcoming mythological play where he portrays the character of ‘Karna’ from Mahabharat.
Imran has always been a promoter of good theatre and has come up with yet another creative from the great writer Ramdhari Singh Dinkar which depicts the heroics of ‘Karna’ of Mahabharat in a musical way. Imran Khan leads the play which is performed in dual Hindi and Sanskrit language.
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s one of the finest piece of writing ‘Rashmirathi’, poetry which puts out of shadow the injustice Karna had faced during Mahabharata in a poetic conversation between Karna and Krishna. With ‘Karna’ as the central character of the play, the story highlights another aspect of the Mahabharata.
The poem has been performed theatrically as stage dramas with legendary actors from National School of Drama and various theatre groups some being Ashutosh Rana and Manoj Bajpai.
“To be part of a play by such a legendary writer is an honor in itself and to be portraying the character of ‘Karna’ is a bonus over it. Since the whole story is in a poetic manner, to be able to perform I had to have knowledge of each and every line with its meaning otherwise one would just be delivering words, not emotions.” said Imran Khan
“The whole story is in a dual language format confining Hindi and Sanskrit, and with me being someone from a different religion it was quite a task to learn the dialects and prepare for the character. I’ve always been an admirer of good drama and religion sentiments haven’t played a force in me deciding to be a part of something before and they never will. From Khan to Karna, I’m ready to take up any challenge if the narrative and drama do the justice to the story.” exclaimed the Divya Drishti actor on his preparation and choice of roles.
Imran has been a part of a lot of television shows some namely ‘Humse Hai Liife’, ‘Tara’, ‘Hero Uncle’, ‘Naagin’, ‘Beintehaa’, ‘Beyhadh’ and many more with ‘The Legend of Bhagat Singh’, ‘Big Brother’, ‘Dil Toh Bacha Hai Ji’, ‘Heroine’ being some of the hit movies he’s been a part of.
This is the beauty of the nation where a Muslim Pathan portrays a Hindu Mythological character and is the perfect example of the diversity the nation offers. The play ‘Rashmirathi’ is going to be performed on 24th of April which also embarks the death anniversary of the legendary writer and is a tribute to him from the team portraying it.
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