Theatre troupe Batighar brought to stage its brand new play ‘Alikhito Upakhyan’. The opening show of the play was held on Monday at 7pm at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA), Segun Bagicha in the city. This is the 2nd production of the troupe.
Directed by Muktoneel, the play ‘Alikhito Upakhyan’ has been made based on the novel of Rizia Rahman’s ‘Olikhito Upakkhan’. The story of the play revolves around the tyranny of the British families, especially Henry Morrell and the manager James Hayley, who seem to thrive on torturing poor helpless and defenseless people. In the play Smoron Biswas plays the role of Rahimullah, while Pantho Afzal plays the role of Bankim Chandra. The other important casts of the play includes, Tarana Tabassum, Moniruzzaman Firoz, Safin Ahmed Asru, Saddam Rahman, Sabrina Sharmin, Faisal, Tazin Ahmed Shaon, Shishir, Mou and others.
In the play, evergreen theatre actor Asaduzzaman Noor lends his vocal to Kathak (narrator), while M Aslam Liton designed the set and Saddam Rahman directed the music for the play.
The performers were met with tumultuous ovations during some of the acts. At the end of the play, when the performers took the bow, they all received a standing ovation.
At the conclusion of the play, some of the audience members shared their thoughts. One group of viewers said, “We loved the performance of Safin Ahmed Asru, who played Henry Morrell. He played the character perfectly, portraying the wickedness and tyranny to perfection.”
Another group of viewers in attendance shared, “The stage was simply mesmerising. The lighting, sound effects, props, all was done so beautifully. We would not mind coming back to watch it again.” Another opinion was “The story was unique. The torture by Henry Morrell, the cruelty of Hayley, the traitors, the hallucinations in the forests, justice being served, all was depicted to perfection.” Some even felt “Many of these performers are so talented that they will soon be in front of the camera for film roles if they want to be. They are very devoted to their craft and extremely talented.”
National Film Award winning actor-playwright Mamunur Rashid was present among the audience. After the play, he was requested on stage and he shared his thoughts, “At first, I thought that portraying the play by Rizia Rahman would be difficult. But the troupe did a good job. Unfortunately,  Rizia Rahman could not be in attendance due to illness. However, when I speak to her, I will tell her about it and will certainly tell her to watch the next show by the troupe. Theatre requires a lot of commitment and a lot of hard steps to follow. The troupe has a bright future and I wish them all the success.”
Actor Saddam Rahman, who portrayed the role of James Hayley, was awarded with the Best Performer Award for his performance in the troupe throughout the year.