The world is his STAGE

Nonika Singh

One moment, celebrated theatre person Kewal Dhaliwal offers us a slice of history like his recently held production (July 2 in Amritsar) Asghar Wajahat’s Jis Lahore Nahi Vekhya O Jamyai Nai… as a cautionary tale. If at times poetry’s deep metaphors mirror in his actors’ bodies, right now he is toying with a play by Amarjit Grewal on artificial intelligence. A voracious reader, before him lie at least 20 scripts, including one by Harish Jain on Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s trials, which will be staged in the near future. Clearly, no subject is out of Kewal’s radius.

Every now and then, he visualises a parallel in the world’s best playwrights’ universal truths and Punjab di mitti. Soon, he will be staging an adaptation of Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, relating it to farmers’ issues. Earlier, in Ibsen’s play Enemy of the People he instantly sensed politics around water problem, a concern that plagues Punjab’s depleting and toxic water level. When he came across The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht, he felt as if the play had been written with Punjab in mind and made the story of small-time goons turning into political heavyweights ring true for Punjab.

His latest play on Rani Jindan (staged in May this year), the youngest wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and mother of Maharaja Duleep Singh, he observes, required no tailoring. For the tale of the indomitable woman, who stood up against the British, shall be forever relevant in context of Punjab and Punjabiyat. Of course, he had to be inventive, chose the narrative style and conceived it with just five actors. In his play Sheesh on Guru Teg Bahadur, since you can’t depict Sikh gurus in flesh and blood, he reflected him via a chorus. Apart from the peerless sacrifice of the great guru, the contemporariness of oneness, as well as diversity, was driven through the portrayal of Aurangzeb’s daughter Zebunissa too.

Dedicated to theatre for nearly five decades, if he has imbibed the passion and commitment of theatre thespian and his guru, the late Gursharan Singh, he has married the same with his training in India’s best theatre school, the prestigious National School of Drama. Unlike many other pass-outs who are smitten by the glamour of Bollywood, Kewal preferred to return to his roots, the nooks and crannies of Amritsar he grew up in and transformed it into a thriving hub of theatre.

Former president of Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, prolific writer-director, be it as the organiser of theatre festivals, he has just finished a 10-day festival bridging the divide between two neighbouring nations…. there are no half-measures in his life. Much-lauded Shiromani Natakaar is not a sum of parts, but a complete whole in every mantle he wears.

Today, as he is a subject of many PhD students, his productions are known as much for their visual language as the subtexts woven in. Interestingly, when he writes, the director in him is not only alive and kicking but keenly aware of how it will be staged. Precisely the reason why he enjoys directing eminent writer Swarajbir’s plays for, “he leaves ample room for a director to explore.”

Those who keep lamenting how onerous it is to survive on theatre alone, his mantra is simple — think what you can give to theatre and not the other way around. Any wonder with Kewal there is no hiatus. For others might abide by ‘the land must lie fallow’ dictum, Kewal believes in ek muthi khuli, doosri tayar, forever in the state of preparedness… Balle balle Punjab might be a misnomer for naysayers, he believes it’s this indefatigable spirit that saves Punjab and is the raison de etre behind his irrepressible positive energy, which shows no signs of ebbing.

Pride in Kapil’s achievements

As many of his shagirds like Kapil Sharma touch dizzying heights of success, Kewal Dhaliwal has no ‘I wish’ moments of vacillation. He takes pride in Kapil’s achievements, as well as of many in Punjabi film industry like Amrinder Gill, who too have learnt the ropes of performing arts under his chattarchaya. Recently, Kewal too was seen in the Punjabi film Shayar.

Incidentally, long time ago he rubbed shoulders with the now CM of Punjab Bhagwant Mann in Punjabi comedy Koko de Bache. Pollywood, however, is an occasional dalliance and not an affaire d’amour.