There was no better way to celebrate Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary than with a musical of his songs starring his great grand daughter, Sharmila Tagore.
Key Tumi, an imaginary musical soliloquy, directed by London-based Amit Ranjan Biswas, was recently staged in the City, to rekindle the public interest in Rabindranath’s cultural legacy.
The play explored the relationship between Rabindranath Tagore and Kadambari, his sister in law, best friend and muse, through an open imaginary letter, written by Kadambari to the poet. Interestingly in the entire musical there is no direct mention of Kadambari and Tagore as character but subtle references give away the identities.
In his note, to the audience, director Amit Ranjan said that the character Kadambari is not just a historical character but also a representation of the muse who continues to inspire artists of all generations.
This being the first time that Sharmila Tagore performed in the City, expectations were high from the audience. And the real treat was the fact that Sharmila, who played the role of Kadambari, was the only solo spoken part. And the action of the play interspersed with Tagore songs performed by vocalists Lopamudra Mitra and Paromita Bandopadhyay.
Completely in Bengali, the play was very abstract and mystical. While the letters spoke about the ambiguous relationship between the two, the songs on the beauty and depth of Rabindra Sangeet.
With songs like Ek Labonye Purno Pran, Tomar khola hawa and Ore bhai phagun legeche and many others were aptly placed to communicate and highlight Kadambari’s state of mind and brought in a flow to the entire journey.
The entire piece was a first for the city and was a treat for the audience who had gathered to witness the performance.
