Ordhi Bhakri - revisited

By Daniel F. de Souza

Anil Kumar and Candido Araujo have once again teamed together to bring forth yet another old tiatr on stage and this time around it is ‘Ordhi Bakhri’ of Prem Kumar. The pair has the distinction of earlier staging two old shows of M. Boyer in the past viz., ‘Sounsar Sudhorlo’ and ‘Ekuch Rosto’. ‘Ordhi Bakri’ earlier written and directed by Prem Kumar 30 years ago is this time presented by Anil Kumar with a totally new cast. Anil Kumar a talented stage artist has taken pains to put forth a quality presentation. Except for the audio visuals and special effects, which Prem Kumar was much known for in his plays, Anil Kumar seems to have done a fairly good job with the direction and presentation getting the best out his entire cast. The play is not only engrossing but is also thought provoking with the script of the play being lucid and appealing. The narration is also something that keeps one guessing and involved in the plot till the very end.

‘Ordhi Bakri’ is a story of a poor tenant Jose (Anthony San) his simple and God fearing wife Rosa (Angela) and over ambitious Paul their adopted son, whom Jose always refers to as his brother. The actual relationship between Paul and Jose is revealed gradually in the play. Paul is pursuing his studies in Engineering and is based in Mumbai. It is Jose and his ever supportive and cooperative wife Rosa who with their meager means of income from agriculture try to make both ends meet and educate Paul to a degree in engineering. To their good luck there is the landlord (Anil Kumar) who is so very compassionate, generous, kind and loving in every way. A rare breed of landlords though, Anil Kumar is totally supportive to this poor couple in all their endeavors.

On the other hand Paul who is supposed to be studying in Mumbai for his engineering degree turns out to be a cheat and takes undue advantage of his simpleton brother Jose. Paul makes unreasonable demands for money with his brother Jose and spends it all on his lady love Nora. To win her heart he plays all sorts of tricks and goes to the extent of even telling her that his brother is a rich man and philanthropist who frequently shuttles around the world from Canada to Europe on business trips. The girl swallows everything without any doubt or suspicion and falls madly in love with him.

Back home in Goa Jose and his wife Rosa are not aware of the exploits of Paul in Mumbai. And they spare no efforts to meet all his monetary demands, hoping that he will become an engineer. The sad part is, Paul marries his love Nora without even informing Jose. On the other hand Jose tries to play this down and never finds any fault with Paul while the landlord is a little suspicious about the whole thing. Jose makes a forced visit to Mumbai on learning about Paul’s marriage. But the reception that Paul receives from his brother Paul in the absence of his wife is most unexpected. This is where the story takes a different turn and finally comes to its logical conclusion with many upheavals.

Nora later learns about the treatment meted out to Jose by Paul and sees through the game of chicanery played by Paul. She wows to teach him a lesson in life, and hatches a plan with the help of her sister Vera to put Paul in his rightful place. What is the plan that Nora hatches? And how does she execute it? What is the actual blood relationship between Jose and Paul? Who is this landlord who goes out of his way to even financially support this poor farmer couple? And why does he do so without any reservations? What is the fate of Paul after Nora learns about his double role? The answer to all these questions lead to the logical conclusion of the plot of ‘Ordhi Bakri’ and are all seen as the story moves ahead.

Anil Kumar deserves praise for his direction which is really good and appropriate to the plot. Besides his character acting too is flawless together with Angela who is so very natural and does full justice to the role of a poor farmer’s wife. Her dialogues and actions coordinate so very well to make this role really memorable. It maybe recalled this role was earlier played by the late Philomena. Anthony San who has stepped into the shoes of Prem Kumar has also given his best to bring the role of Jose very much near to the original. Well done Anthony. Mathew Araujo, has a sober role of the brother of Nora and Vera and he comes out well. So is Yvonne as Nora and the versatile Fatima as Vera is very natural in her demanding role. One artist who made the difference in the comedy role was a new face Maria in the role of a native Maharastrian Kamala. Her chaste Marathi was not only natural but also sounded pleasant to the ears. A good talent to the stage. Godwin who plays Paul has given a promising performance in a role that demands a lot of action and emotion too.

The tiatr has a flood of solos and badly lacks in a good duet. There’s one nice comedy trio by Anil-Succor-Fatima and one wished there was another offering with a political theme though. Among the solos, Xavier Almeida stands tall with his solo on Jack de Sequeira, Godwin enthralls with his solo ‘Pack of cards’ a really nice composition with a creative imagination, Anthony San with his pleasing voice is delightful in his soulful tribute to late Ulhas Buyao, Joaquim Cabral, S. Lemos, Soccoro de St. Cruz, comprise the other singers who render solos on varied topics.

Norman on the key boards, Maestro Josinho D’Souza on the Saxaphone, Agnelo Dias on the trumpet and ‘Paklo’ on the drums combine very well with the musical score which is of a high standard. The background music specially with a light Indian classical touch is pleasant and takes the narration of the plot to a different level. Norman does a lot of improvisations on the keyboard and adds punch to the music.

n.b.: this tiatr review is published in this weeks Goan Observer.

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Daniel F. de Souza
Konkani Writer & Freelance Journalist

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" GOD DID NOT MAKE MEN PERFECT, HE MADE THEM PILGRIMS AFTER PERFECTION."
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