JOIN USIn recently staged musical play Kabeer, Shekhar Sen performed the roles of 38 characters. If there was one ‘perfect’ way to present Indian saint-poets of yore to the audience today, director, singer and actor Shekhar Sen has done that.
With his brilliant mono-acts depicting the lives of religious leaders like Tulsi and Vivekananda, he has taken art and spirituality to an altogether different level. And when he performed his musical play Kabeer in the City recently, he won the hearts of all present.
Shekhar had already staged ‘Kabeer’ an astounding 244 times in almost all the metropolitan cities of India, small villages of UP (where Kabeer was born), and at different cultural centres across the world.
The play, however, finds a new audience and meaning every time it is staged. It is surprising that the story of a poet, who lived more than 600 years ago, draws people even now and every show of Kabeer is houseful. Probably it is so because, firstly, the legend itself is so interesting.
An infant boy is found floating on a lake by a poor Muslim couple in Lehartara, Varanasi. In spite of having no clue of the child’s own religion, Niru and Nima adopt him and name him Kabeer. They raise him as their own and teach him the family vocation – weaving. The child, though, has a strong spiritual calling and approaches the famous ‘bhakti’ saint Ramanand to be accepted as a disciple.
When the saint declines, Kabeer falls on his feet at the steps of Ganga on a moonless night, taking him by surprise and uttering the word ‘Ram’ over the prostrate Kabeer. Kabeer becomes his disciple and receives teaching from him.
In a two-hour long solo rendition, Shekhar presents the life of Kabeer beautifully performing the roles of 38 different characters, including that of Niru, Loyee — Kabeer’s wife, his disciples and Kabeer himself. Very deftly, he modulates his voice to give a different sound to each character and makes it even better than a multiple-actor theatre experience. The acts are intercepted by 45 song sequences in different ragas, wherein Shekhar sings the many dohas (couplets) of Kabeer.
Not only does he prove himself to be a naturally gifted singer, but also an innovative dramatist and excellent actor. One doubts if the script could have been written any better. The story is woven in perfectly, the song sequences come in at the right moment and is of the right length. Almost all significant moments in the poet’s life — his marriage with Loyee, meetings with the then emperor Sikandar Shah Lodhi and saints like Ramanand, Raidas, and Sheikh Fareed, are depicted well. Also, Kabeer’s death, after which his body is said to have turned to flowers, is portrayed in a symbolic manner and wisely.
It is a wonder to see this artiste carry the play on his shoulders for nothing less than two hours and deliver it perfectly. No doubt, his endeavour must be blessed by Kabeer himself.