The fabled panchkanya of Hindu folklore — Ahalya, Tara, Mandodari, Kunti and Draupadi — who are the subject of Paanchforon have captured the public imagination in numerous ‘retellings’ over the years. But what Chakdaha Natyajan does differently is that it does not just offer an alternative version of a story about wronged women from a feminist perspective: it gives them a different story altogether. There are no damsels in distress here: these are strong women who have made a separate life for themselves away from a society that has shunned them and questioned their ‘character’. Thus, the Ashok-bon becomes the setting — a rather sparse one, sadly, with few cardboard representations of foliage — for a matriarchy into which crashes the Pushpak Viman carrying Brihospoti, tutor to the gods, and the newly-elected version of Indra, the king of the gods. How they navigate through the pitfalls of this misandrist 'queendom’, escaping underlings who have no qualms about snacking on men, forms the plot.
Judicious use of humour enlivens what could have become a preachy sob story. Mandodari at a beauty parlour and Brihospoti and Indra disguised in saris are some of the instances that elicit laughter; sly digs aimed at political dispensations also induce chuckles. The actors playing the roles of the women protagonists are competent; Mouli Roy as Ahalya and Aditi Lahiri as Tara are a cut above the rest. Their dialogue delivery adequately conveys the pathos of the exploitation suffered by these women. Kamal Chatterjee as Brihospoti is superb. His comic timing and facial expressions are flawless, though his physical altercations with Indra threaten to convert the action into a Laurel-Hardy-ish comedy, a fate from which the play is quickly rescued by the excellent Suranjana Dasgupta — she also dons the director’s hat — in her role as the worldly-wise Kunti.
Paanchforon celebrates role-reversals with women fulfilling traditionally masculine roles and men dressing up as women and bridges the gap between ancient mythology and modern, irreverent egalitarianism.
