The English film director Derek Jarman had said, "Understand that sexuality is as wide as the sea. Understand that your morality is not law."
Vijay Tendulkar wrote the play SAKHARAM BINDER, nearly forty years ago and jolted the prudery of Indian society. Its open avowal of private truths about morality, sex and violence are still as true as the day the play was written. Sakharam Binder is a Brahmin who hates his upbringing and exists in a society which he loathes. But, he has no qualms about benefiting from its unfairness. He brings to his hovel, women who have been "discarded by their husbands" and gives them "a roof over their heads, two saris a year and food in their belly."
In return, they have to perform all the "wifely duties", including sharing their bodies. He is unapologetic about his sexual appetites and is uncontrollably violent during his rages, when he gives the women "what they deserve". Sadly, in a world cruel to women, he finds women who are desperate enough to agree to his terms. But in his provocative way, Sakharam questions the hypocrisy of the "bond" of marriage. Certain truths of intimate relations are never obvious to outsiders. Unwittingly, we realize what women must undergo in their marital home beneath the facade of respectability. Subjected to demands on their lives, bodies and minds, there is stoic acceptance of their fate. Sakharam on the contrary believes that he is magnanimous when he gives the women in his life permission to leave, whenever they wish. Fidelity for him means that he brings home a successor, only when the earlier one has left. Tendulkar's play is about this self-proclaimed hedonistic man and of the drama that sets in when he brings first Laxmi and later Champa into his home.
We see two women - the gently bred Brahmin female Laxmi, who is a trembling leaf of gratitude and compliance and begins to worship Sakharam like a wife would. Champa, on the other hand, is a brazen whisper of feministic change in the male-dominated household. Her lower-class background makes her frank in her speech, open about her physicality and candid about her choices. Her sensuality helps her wrap Sakharam around her little finger. But, she has been tortured sexually and thus needs to be in an alcoholic haze in order to endure Sakharam's sexual demands.
When Laxmi returns to his house, Sakharam's world unravels. Survival instinct and sexual violence create a situation which turns the aggressive Sakharam and the timid Laxmi into an antithesis of what they are. Tendulkar thus shows that morality is a luxury and that struggle for survival is the truth of the real world. Given the 'right' circumstances, all humans can turn aggressive.
Written originally in Marathi, the English adaptation needed good translation and strong performances as is demanded by the characters. Sadly, for me, this production did not live up to my expectations. It lacked the flow necessary to hook an audience. The subtle menace, dialogue delivery and stage presence expected of Sakharam was simply missing in Dr. Rajesh Nahar's performance. The overly trembling speech of Shrabani Mukherjee playing Laxmi, was mechanical. It did not convey the requisite fear and apprehension. The lack of clarity in the speech of both these characters made one strain to hear the words.
Pulki Joshi who played the sultry Champa was better, although a more mature looking actress would have had a more forceful impact. Pulki's constant fiddling with her sari pallu exposed her unfamiliarity with the garment and did not gel with Champa's bold attitude. Neither was she at ease when she was supposed to be alone with Sakharam.
Sanjeev Srikar as Sakharam's friend Dawood and Rishikar Wadhwani as Fauzdar Shinde (Champa's husband) formed the supporting cast. Certain faux` pas such as repeatedly picking up an allegedly hot vessel of tea with the hand, or Laxmi entering the home and kitchen with slippers on, should have been avoided at all costs. Visible stagehands during change of scene, the production crew's brightly lit computer screen in the pit are presumably hiccups of a first performance.
Sakharam's inept playing of the drum was jarring. Most words from the original (particularly the swear words and rustic language) lost their impact in translation, but retaining some Marathi words with the correct pronunciation was a nice touch. The young director Yogesh Pagare has tried to recreate the complexity of Vijay Tendulkar's most controversial play, but has a very long way to go.
*Ujwala Karmakar is an Anaesthesiologist by profession. She likes to watch plays, read, and listen to music among other things. Ujwala has also been writing on women's issues, parenting, travel, etc.
