KARACHI: There’s a fine line between narrating history and dramatising it. Simple narration does not necessarily require true-to-life character sketches to delineate an epoch, whereas dramatic rendition of an era needs characterisation that captures, and represents, the ‘feel’ and ‘mood’ of the highlighted period.

Ajoka Theatre’s second presentation at the fourth National Academy of Performing Arts Theatre Festival on Sunday night, titled Dara, touched upon a very significant part of the Mughal Empire when one brother, in order not to loosen his grip on the throne, feels no compunction about eliminating his able brother for unjustifiable reasons.

As can be understood from the title of the play, Dara sheds light on Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (Usman Raj) and his brother Dara Shikoh (Kamran Mujahid) that have contrasting views on life in general and on the issues of governance in particular. A rigid and more religiously inclined Aurangzeb does not like the way Dara looks at things, and Dara does not approve of his brother’s ideological moorings. But as things unfold in the play, there is another character, Sarmad (Nirvan Nadeem), the majzoob, who sides with Dara believing he is on the right path.

The mood of the play is given away in the very beginning as Amir Khusrau’s pathos-laden composition ‘Aaj rung hai’ is sung by musicians, who form an integral part of the script. The audience immediately know that they’re in for a serious, grim tale. The arrival of the rather high-pitched Aurangzeb and his irritation at the fact that Dara, despite being arrested by him, has a considerable popularity-base in the kingdom, make things readily differentiable in black and white. Aurangzeb seeks the counsel of his trusted men on the matter, most of whom further fuel his desire to get rid of his brother.

Dara, written and directed by Shahid Nadeem, discusses a very important subject and for that its makers should be commended. However, the way they go about their business is not very engaging. Too much time is spent on building the scenes, both through longish dialogue and music that could have been truncated to give more space to the fleshing-out of characters.

Aurangzeb speaks like Prithviraj Kapoor in the film Mughal-i-Azam, only with a less croaky voice but with the same vowel-extending finishing of sentences. He is so monotonous that sometimes you feel sympathy for the actor.

Nonetheless, the historic ambience in Dara transports the theatre-goers to a world where dissent is not always tolerated. And the reference is not to the 21st century.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play