Theatrical magic

Sahitya Kala Parishad, the Delhi Government's art and culture arm, has returned with another edition of Mohan Rakesh Natya Samman Samaroh, this month.

The Parishad is known to promote diverse Indian art and culture and celebrates the charm of theatre. This year's chief guest will be Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

This yearly theatrical festival honours rising stars in the world of Hindi theatre and encourages many more to take the legacy forward.

The four-day festival will pay tribute to theatrical veteran Mohan Rakesh by showcasing plays chosen by an expert committee from an all-India Mohan Rakesh Play writing competition.

The top four artists who were selected for the competition are Rajesh Kumar for Nishabd, Ram Sharma ‘Kapren’ for Dhanpati Nawab Se Prem, Pratibha Jain for Mahasharman Chandragupta Maurya and Dayanand Sharma for Ishq Samandar. The prize money awarded to the winners is as follows: The first reward was Rs 50,000, the second prize was Rs 40,000, the third prize was Rs 30,000, and the consolation prize was Rs 20,000.

Each day, one of the four chosen plays will be performed. On the first day, the audience will get to see Ram Sharma Kapren’s Dhanpati Nawab Se Prem directed by Surender Sharma. The second day will include Pratibha Jain's Mahasharman Chandragupta Maurya. Bharti Sharma will direct the third winning play. On the third day, Dayanand Sharma's Ishq Samandar, directed by Ayaz Khan, will take the stage. On the last day of the festival, the first prize winner – Rajesh Kumar’s Nishabd will be presented by Lokendra Trivedi as director.

These four scripts will be published in the book 'Natya Taranga' by Sahitya Kala Parishad. The first edition of this book was released in 2019.

When: January 10 – 13

Where: Kamani Auditorium, Mandi House