Although the basic element of the plot is bifurcation of the forgotten inmates of a mental asylum after the cruel ‘drama’ of partition was over, yet the playwright like the story writer has been able to achieve a certain inwardness with which he often tends to approach both the individual/collective psyche of Punjabi community as also the sociology that rarefies or refracts it.
Premier: July 2022
Written By: Dr Atamjeet Singh
Directed By: Aamir Nawaz
Whether it is Rishtiaan Da Ki Rakhiye Naa or his other plays, it’s always the complex web of personal/social/artistic relationships that constitutes the very stuff and material of his dramatic content and structure. In this play he explores the sociology of fragmented relationships in the post-Partition scenario. Adding a few characters and creating their detailed characterization in the play, Atamjit has not only presented the pain, agony, turmoil and sufferings of ordinary Punjabis, he has also pitied the overall milieu that could not bear the brunt of this partition in any dignified manner.
At individual level people remained concerned and helpful to each other but at the level of community the Punjabis who speak the same language did the most shameful acts that are unparalleled in more ways than one in the history of mankind.
The play and its songs mourn the events of 1947 in a most dramatic and subtle manner. But it also raises a hope, especially through end of the play, that the age-old ties cannot be severed in terms of language, literature, thought process and other aspects of our cultural heritage.
The recent developments in people-to-people contacts are a testimony to this optimism.
