Odakalu Bimba

Odakalu Bimba
Written by Girish Karnad
Characters Manjula Nayak (Kannada and Hindi),
Manjula Sharma (Shabana Azmi version)
Date premiered 2005
Place premiered Rangashankara, Bangalore
Original language Kannada
Setting Bangalore

Odakalu Bimba is a Kannada monodrama by Indian playwright and author Girish Karnad. It was written in 2005 and marked Karnad's return to direction after a period of thirty years.[1][2]

It was translated and titled Bikhre Bimb in Hindi and A Heap of Broken Images in English. It starred Arundhati Nag as Manjula Nayak and her doppelgänger in the Kannada and Hindi versions while Arundhati Raja played the same role in the English version.[1][3]

The plot revolves around the protagonist Manjula Nayak who is an unsuccessful writer in Kannada and finds success with her novel written in English. Her doppelgänger later questions her about her choice to write in English rather than in her own language and the betrayal of her own language.[4][5]

The play earned itself positive reviews which subsequently resulted in a new production of it in English which was directed by Alyque Padamsee and featured Shabana Azmi playing the lead role of Manjula Sharma, a Hindi writer who is unsuccessful.[6][7][8]

The play won Karnad the awards for Best Playwright, Best Director while Nag won the Best Actress award for her role at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards in 2008.[9][10]

Karnad got the idea to write the play when he attended a talk in Bangalore by Shashi Deshpande, daughter of Kannada writer Shriranga, on Indian writers who wrote in English not being treated on par with English writers of foreign origin.[6][11]

The play was originally performed at Bangalore. The Kannada version of the play were performed all across Karnataka, while the Hindi version was performed across different cities in India including Delhi, Chennai, Chandigarh and Thiruvananthapuram.[9][12] The English version featuring Azmi was performed in the United States where it was received positively.[13][14][15]

The play was produced by and originally performed at Ranga Shankara, Bangalore which was built in honour of Nag's late husband Shankar Nag.[16][17]

References

  1. 1 2 Gupta, Hemangini (March 19, 2005). "Actor vs. actor". The Hindu Metro Plus. Bangalore. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  2. ↑ "Metaphor for a new age". The Tribune. December 4, 2005. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  3. ↑ George, Liza (March 18, 2010). "The stage is her world". The Hindu Friday Review. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  4. ↑ "Exploring questions of linguistic identity". The Hindu. Bangalore. March 19, 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  5. ↑ "Karnad's 'Bikhre Bimb' today". The New Indian Express. Thiruvananthapuram. 13 March 2010. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  6. 1 2 John, Jessu (July 14, 2012). "Showcase: Politics of language". The Hindu Friday Review. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  7. ↑ Sucharita, Swati (February 12, 2010). "Theatre at a price?". The Times of India. Hyderabad. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  8. ↑ Sawant, Purvaja (September 14, 2012). "Theatre Review: Broken Images". The Times of India. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  9. 1 2 "'Bikhre Bimb' turns 50". Deccan Herald Metrolife. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  10. ↑ "Girish Karnad's 'Bikhre Bimb' walks away with top META awards". Oneindia.in. March 8, 2008. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  11. ↑ Bhagat, Himanshu (April 23, 2010). "The play of languages". Livemint. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  12. ↑ Sharma, SD (September 25, 2012). "Multilingual genius". Hindustan Times. Chandigarh. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  13. ↑ "Shabana Azmi joins US theatrical tour of Karnad's 'Broken Images'". Indian Tribune. Chicago. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  14. ↑ "Shabana Azmi's 'Broken Images' wins applause in US". The Indian Express. Chicago. October 18, 2010. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
  15. ↑ Vincent, Anusha (September 21, 2010). "The play Broken Images, written by Girish Karnad, directed by Alyque Padamsee and starring Shabana Azmi is going all the way to New York to enthral the audience there on October 8.". The Times of India. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  16. ↑ Mishra, Sheokesh (November 23, 2012). "Three names shortlisted for National School of Drama director post". India Today. New Delhi. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  17. ↑ "All the World's a Stage". The Indian Express. October 5, 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-19. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
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