SETU,  a non-profit community theater group presented the famous Vijay Tendulkar play “Kamala”, a complex tale that weaves several women’s right issues holding the flesh trade of tribal women at its core.  SETU used the play as a fundraiser for to support the running of single teacher schools in remote rural villages in India.  SETU partnered with IAGB and Ekal for this effort. 

Two shows were hosted on Saturday, Sep 16 and Sunday Sep 17 at the Belmont Hall Theater in Belmont, MA.  The show opened with a light-hearted comedy skit OUTNOB - Once Upon a Time NOT in Bollywood and some colorful and fun Bollywood dance sequences – representing the very core of Indian weddings. 

After a brief presentation by Ekal Vidyalaya and IAGB, State Senators William N. Brownsberger and James B. Eldridge addressed the audience and expressed their appreciation for the tremendous work done by Ekal. 

After a brief intermission, Kamala – the main presentation of the evening was featured.  The tale is set in the home of a male chauvinistic journalist, who engages in sensational journalism to expose a variety of ills.  While he is exposing the evil of the flesh trade and how poorly tribal women are treated, he himself sees nothing wrong in using the woman as evidence for his tale and treating her as a mere object.  The incident also brings light his male chauvinistic side to his wife who until then has not noticed this. The play is a masterpiece by Vijay Tendulkar who used a real incident to share the plight of women from different classes in Indian society, 

Each character was depicted masterfully by the cast and crew. Subrata Das as the journalist, Jeyanthi Bandopadyay as his wife Sarita, Rohini Pola as the maid and Aditi Taylor as Kamala delivered a fine performance. The other roles were played by different people on different days were done to perfection as well. 

While the play was applauded for its professionalism, the team was delighted to have raised significant funds through the presentation to support children getting education in remote rural villages. When artists use their art to directly impact a cause the world can only beome a better place. 

The Crew

Lighting Design……..Prateek Paul

Music……..Pra Deep

Stage Design.......... Rohini Pola, Jayanti Bandyopadhyay

Tickets Management..........Aneesha Karody, Nirmal Kumar

Backstage……..Deven Atnoor, Noorain Buxamusa

Posters……..Harun Razith, Kabita Das 

Video & Photography……..Ganesh Davaluri, Sanjay Kudrimoti

Original Playwright……..Vijay Tendulkar

Script Editing ……..On Priya Adarkar’s translation from Marathi

Direction ……..Subrata Das

Publicity Team: Ravi Nimmagadda, Nirmal Kumar, Dipali Trivedi, Janique Choux-Das, Sugandha Gopal, Mala Krishnamurthy

Organizing Team: Aneesha Karody, Parveen Minocha, Ranjani Saigal, Jayashree Deshmukh Voruganti, Pushpa Baskaran, Zehra Khan, Rekha Palriwala, Nirmal Kumal, Aditi Taylor, Ravi Nimmagadda, Jayanti Bandyopadhyay, Subrata Das, Yogita Miharia

Masters of Ceremony: Yogita Miharia and Sridhar Pola

Poem Recitation: Purvi Shah

Folk Dances

Anusha Maltesh, Mayuri Janapareddy, Thanu Lakshmi Natrajan, Ishita Rao, Nikita Rao

Wedding Skit Dancers……..Monisha Prakash, Swasti Bhargava, Nikita Rao

Piano and Dance……..Ananya Chatterjee, Gunjan Malhotra

Dr. Natarajan……..Rich industrialist……..Sanjay Kudrimoti

Mr. Lohia……..Rich industrialist……..Rishi Naik

Mr. Birla……..Rich industrialist……..Nilay Mukherjee

Mrs. Saha……..Rich industrialist……..Mandy Pant

Piyali……..Poor house-worker……..Ridhima Mahajan

Meera……..Poor house-worker……..Kumkum Pareek Malik

Geeta……..Tribal house-worker……..Japneet Kwatra

Ruchi Verma……..Middle-class housewife……..Ananya Chatterjee

Alka Sinha……..Middle-class housewife……..Purvi Shah

Shilpa Kapoor ……..Middle-class housewife……..Gunjan Malhotra

Choreographers: Pooja Tiwari, Monisha Prakash, Nikita Rao

Kamala Cast

Sarita (Housewife) Jayanti Bandyopadhyay

Kamala (Tribal woman) Aditi Taylor

Meerabai (Maidservant) Rohini Pola

Kakasaheb (Sarita’s uncle) Mahesh Palriwala, Ravi Kacker*

Jain (Journalist) Ravi Nimmagadda, Nilay Mukherjee*

Jaisingh (Sarita’s journalist husband) Subrata Das

Dancers and bar singers Shikha Bajpai, Purbi Rana, Swasti B.

* double casting  (one show each)