A simple tale comes alive

Sanjay and his Master, a puppet-music-theatre, was held at Ranga Shankara recently.

Directed by Dadi Pudumjee, it brought Indian and Western artistes together, and offered a treat for theatre lovers as well as children. The show was part of the international festival ‘KinderKinder’ and ‘India Week’.

This puppet theatre was presented by internationally-acclaimed German puppeteer Matthias Kuchta, who was accompanied by three well-known musicians from Kolkata — Subroto Roy Chowdhury, Anjan Saha on sitar and Swapan Bhattacharya on tabla.

‘Sanjay and his Master’ is the adaptation of an old Buddhist tale and narrates the story of a runaway boy named Sanjay. Sanjay leaves home to pursue a career in music and arrives in the city of Banaras. There, he plays his old sitar on the streets to earn money. But, people don’t show any interest in his music.

However, Sanjay doesn’t give up and goes to Anand, who is the court musician and requests Anand to accept him as his pupil. Though Anand rejects this proposal initially, he later agrees to teach him.They start practising rigorously and Sanjay soon gains mastery over the instrument. Meanwhile, he falls in love with Anand’s daughter Nandita.

Sanjay aspires to become a court musician just like his master and reveals his desire to his master who conveys his student’s wish to the king. Unfortunately, the king decides that Sanjay and Anand should compete in a concert.

The king says that he will announce the winner as his sole court musician.

During the concert, the experienced Anand plays a trick on Sanjay. However, Sanjay succeeds in impressing the king with this music and innocence. At the end, the king keeps both of them as his court musicians and Anand gives away his daughter to Sanjay at the grand wedding.

Puppeteer Matthias Kuchta presented this story in a brilliant manner. Soulful music by Subroto Roy Chowdhury and Anjan Saha brought out the emotions in the story and they also played brief roles in the show as Anand and Sanjay. As it was a Sunday, the auditorium was jam-packed and there were lot of children to watch the show.

 ‘KinderKinder’, a Germany-based theatre organisation which mainly conceptualises shows for children, is on an India tour and will be showcasing ‘Sanjay and his Master’ in many cities across the country. “This is the first time we have performed in the City and it was a nice experience. This programme is a collaborative effort of artistes, both from India and Germany, aimed to help children appreciate the beauty of Indian classical music,” says Stephan V Lowis of Menar, the producer.