Of a trailblazer in community theatre

Through street plays and camps, Sahana Pinjar uses theatre as a tool to bring empowerment and change

Sahana Pinjar was in Class 3 at a government school at Hosapete when a woman was burned alive for dowry in the slum where she lived. This incident, which occurred in the early 1990s, left a deep impression on Sahana. “I was too young to understand why this happened but I knew not an ounce of sympathy was shown towards the woman,” says Sahana.

In response, her maternal uncle P Abdul, a social activist and theatre artiste, led a theatre-based campaign, which Sahana joined.

As part of the campaign, Abdul authored a street play titled Varadakshine (dowry). Abdul also helped the woman’s family with legal aid when they filed a court case. With nine-year-old Sahana in the lead role, the play was performed nearly 80 times across Ballari district, and sparked a small social movement. The discussions that followed the street plays led her to the realisation that theatre had the power to provoke change and introspection.

Three decades later, 44-year-old Sahana is a graduate of the National School of Drama, Ninasam, and a PhD holder from Bengaluru University. Known for her innovative stage design, Sahana had the opportunity to pursue a successful career in commercial theatre or film.

However, having grown up in Azadnagar, a slum in Hosapete, Sahana was witness to human trafficking, dowry deaths and other social evils, which shattered the lives of individuals and families.

Deep motivation to address these social evils and inequities motivated her to work at the grassroots level. She chose to return to the slums of Hosapete in 2011, where she leads Bhavaikyata Vedike, a theatre group formed by her uncle Abdul. She also conducts free drama camps in impoverished areas and works with people from marginalised sections of society. As a part of these efforts, Sahana blends creativity and activism, with the support of her husband Riyaz Sihimoge, a dramatist from Ninasam, and her cousins who are involved with theatre in various capacities.

Sahana Pinjar at work

Initially, they faced many challenges. “It was our very first camp. We cleaned the venue and invited resource persons. To our dismay, no child turned up for the training,” recalls Sahana.

The family banded together and carried out door-to-door publicity to attract interested kids. They invited children from an orphanage to attend the camp. The children were trained in singing, poetry, script writing and acting. At the end of the camp, a play authored by children was staged as well.

Eventually, the camps began drawing children from across Hosapete and even outside. Sahana trains 30 to 40 students every year in their free camps. The camps have been conducted since 2006.

Ankalesh H, a resident of P K Halli in Vijayanagar district, explains how his life changed after attending the camp. “The plays brought me out of my cocooned life. Bhavaikyata Vedike also helped me get a fellowship and today, I write plays, anchor shows, create social awareness through puppetry and manage a YouTube channel. I am also pursuing a BA degree,” he says.

Ankalesh came from a Devadasi family and worked as a supplier in a hotel. In 2021, he came across a pamphlet of a free theatre camp, organised by Bhavaikyata Vedike.

A music enthusiast, he began attending sessions. Here, he was able to work on voice modulation and dialogue delivery. Soon, he was able to get roles in three plays, giving him confidence.

Another student, Sudeep Kumar Naik, a fourth-year BE student in Hosapete, attended a workshop when in school. His script ‘Dumma Andre Dammi Alla’ was inspired by the trials of an overweight boy, informed by his own experiences. The play was beautifully adapted to the stage by Sahana and her team.

“I just cannot forget the beautiful radium butterflies and the ‘talking cuckoo’ that were on stage in the play. It was a symbol of the dreamy world of an overweight boy,” says Sudeep.

“During our camps, we try to get the story from the children themselves. We allow them to express their thoughts and this works wonders,” says Riyaz.

Sahana Pinjar at work

While Riyaz concentrates on teaching acting, Sahana has mastered the art of set design, using unique lighting and costumes. This lends a professional touch to her plays. She uses affordable, locally available materials to make these sets.

For instance, in her play Jannat Mahal, transparent curtains were used to symbolise the role of the burqa in her protagonist’s life. Sahana also typically changes sets every few scenes to break the monotony. In her version of the Greek drama King Oedipus in Kannada, the sets, costumes and overall visual appeal had a local flavour. She also visited China to create sets for the play Ek Rukha Huva Faisla, directed by Keerthi Jain.

In her play Shavada Mane, based on a novel by Kannada writer Chaduranga, she portrays an intellectual through the use of a long coat made of books and papers. The set has ladders which represent the ups and downs of life.

“Our design should resonate with our emotions. In one of my plays, my sets had refrigerators which were used as symbols to depict the socio-cultural bondage of women,” says Sahana.

The journey

Hailing from the backward Pinjar community, Sahana has witnessed at close quarters the impact of theatre. Her parents were involved in the traditional trade of cotton-cleaning and quilt and mattress-weaving. The business fetched them just enough for two square meals a day.

Her uncle Abdul felt the need to educate and empower the children of the household and he encouraged the family to shift to Hosapete for schooling. Thus the family migrated from H Veerapur in Ballari district to Azadanagar, where her brothers and mother continued the traditional trade and helped out with the troupe.

In Hosapate, Sahana lacked the motivation to attend the government school as it lacked facilities. She often skipped classes. To keep herself engaged, she began learning acting from her uncle, picking up the skills quickly. Acting came to her naturally as she spent time observing the behaviour and movements of people around her and adopted them in the characters she played.

Sahana Pinjar at work

She performed her first street play when she was just five. In the years that followed, Sahana gave several striking performances in plays and street plays like Pawada Guttu, Hudagi Odalebeku and others under the aegis of Bhavaikyata Vedike, which transcended castes, communities and political affiliations. She even toured across Karnataka and participated in agitations for water and other civic and social issues.

These plays turned her into a popular actor.

However, this had repercussions on her academics. She could not clear her SSLC. In 1999, she got an opportunity to learn at Ninasam, a premiere theatre institute in Karnataka.

Ninasam was a different challenge altogether. “At Ninasam, I realised the importance of reading and developing good language skills. I was around 16, the youngest in the batch, and got to learn from some known personalities,” says Sahana.

Her stint at Ninasam carved a clear path. She then took to staging plays and earning a livelihood. She even enrolled in a PUC college and worked at a girl's residential school, where she gained the love of younger students as a drama teacher as well.

After completing her BA degree, her college librarian encouraged Sahana to join the National School of Drama (NSD). “Sahana was a trailblazer in our college. She was talented and led a women’s team in the youth festival. So, I asked her not to hesitate and to just apply to the NSD,” recalls Sujatha, the librarian at Theosophical Women’s College, Hosapete.

It was at NSD that she learnt more about sets and lighting. She became the first woman in the Pinjar community to earn a PhD – for which she studied design and direction.

Today, apart from the camps, she trains students across the country. She has also been nominated a syndicate member of Karnataka Folklore University in Haveri.

“What makes Sahana stand apart are her progressive thoughts, her boldness that can reshape social perceptions, her flawless diction and the synergy she forms between the audience and the stage,” says writer Peer Basha.

When asked if street plays and dramas make an impact in this age of technology, she quips that live plays are interactive, providing audiences with opportunities to connect with characters. The messages encapsulated in plays leave lasting imprints on the minds of the audience.

Many NGOs and government departments have collaborated with Sahana’s team to stage plays on varying topics of social and cultural significance.

By training children from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds, Sahana and her team intend to provide them with the opportunity to overcome social inhibitions, unleash their talents, express their thoughts, develop confidence and get educated. These intentions are evident in the plays that the Vedike stages and in the lives of artists that have come out of the group.

“Sahana is disciplined in her work right from her childhood and is always enthusiastic to try something new on the stage. This helped her grow as a theatre activist,” said P Abdul, her uncle.