Urubhangam

A combat scene from the play Urubhangam

Nironjan Adhikari has adapted Sanskrit playwright Bhasa's Urubhangam, a word meaning 'crushing of thigh' in English, with a contemporary touch. With some additions and editing, the story of the play is set against the backdrop of the concluding part of the Kurukshetra war mentioned in the Mahabharata. In this part, Kaurava hero Duryodhana starts a club fight (gada fight) with his rival Pandav hero Bhima Sen. Influenced by Krishna, the leading light of the Pandavs, Bhima strikes Duryodhana on his thigh with the gada, which is treated as an immoral deed according to the law of club fight.

In the epic Mahabharata, the Pandavs are treated as the heroes. However, Nironjan Adhikari has portrayed Duryodhana as the hero of the play for not allowing the Kauravas to take revenge on Bhima for the immoral act. Adhikari has used a verse from Sanskrit drama-critic Bharatmuni as the epilogue in which the chorus sings, 'From our world let all unhappiness be removed. And let there be the advent of peace as the beam of sun reaches the earth.'

As a director, Kamaluddin Nilu's approach is narrative. He has unfolded the story of the play through the narration of a storyteller. His compositions to visualise the war and the tragic scenes were spectacular. However, the weakest part of the play was that it was not possible for the audience to follow the dialogues as well as the narration, the most important part of the play. This was due to the faulty acoustics throughout the play.

Sarder Aftabuddin, as a set designer, has not followed the Sanskrit trend. However, his symbolic set design was able to successfully support the theme of the play.

Nasirul Haque Khokon has used so many symbolical colours, however, it was not effective at all.

As costume designers, Sabina and Shipra have followed the style of the clothing of the people of the ancient Ellora and Ajanta.

Performers Delwar Hossain Dilu as the narrator and Ratna as the Noti (actress) were impressive.