Rajkumar Hemendrajit – the Assamese translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, was presented recently under the aegis of the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards at the Pragjyoti – ITA Centre for Performing Arts. The Assamese translation is by Amritjyoti Mahanta, while the adaptation, design and direction were by Arup Hazarika.

Rajkumar Hemendrajit is very unhappy at the untimely death of his father. Immediately after his father’s death, his mother Garima Devi marries his uncle Kalhans in a hurry. One night, Rajkumar Hemendrajit sees his father’s ghost, who accuses Kalhans of murder, and calls for revenge. Rajkumar Hemendrajit starts behaving like a lunatic. Prabalbachan, Kalhan’s prime minister, thinks Rajkumar Hemendrajit loves his daughter Banphul and he assumes lovesickness as the prime cause of the Rajkumar’s madness. In order to prove his uncle’s guilt, Rajkumar Hemendrajit arranges a theatre performance and invites the king and the queen to enjoy the play. All on a sudden, being restless, King Kalhans stops the progress of the play performance of the murder of Gajendra. In Queen Garima Devi’s chamber, mistaking Prabalbachan for the king, Rajkumar Hemendrajit kills him. After being exiled to Ishanpeeth, Rajkumar Hemendrajit discovers Kalhans has ordered his execution, but somehow he escapes and comes back to Parbatpur. Banphul has gone mad and drowned herself. Kalhans plans a fencing match between Rajkumar Hemendrajit and Lakshyajit, Prabalbachan’s son. Rajkumar Hemendrajit agrees to fight. In order to take revenge for his father’s death, Lakshyajit takes a poisoned sword for the match. After the first bout, King Kalhans offers a glass of poisoned wine to Rajkumar Hemendrajit, but he refuses to drink as the match is in progress, instead Queen Garima Devi drinks it and eventually dies. While fighting, their swords get exchanged. Lakshyajit, being struck by his own sword, reveals the king’s plot. Rajkumar Hemendrajit stabs his uncle with the poisoned sword, and compels him to drink the poisoned wine. Lakshyajit and Hemendrajit forgive each other and then succumb to their injuries. Before his death, Rajkumar Hemendrajit declares Rajkumar Narottam, the prince of Jaurangapur, as the future king of Parbatpur.

It was a near-perfect play. All the actors did justice to their characters. Special mention may be made here of Pakija Begum as Garima, Tapan Baruah as Lakshyajit, Abhijit Goswami as Rajkumar Hemendrajit, Anup Hazarika as Kalhans, Gayatri Mahanta as Banphul and Sangeeta Borah and Eliza Begum as Paricharika. The Assamese translation by Amritjyoti Mahanta is impressive and the dialogues are appropriate. Credit must also go to Baharul Islam for thematic use of music, Rabijita Gogoi for costume design based on the patterns from the North East and Anup Hazarika and Achyut Bishaya for light designing and operating respectively.

In brief, it can be said that the theatre lovers of the city had the rare opportunity to see a world famous play of Shakespeare – performed in their own language.

At the outset of the staging of the play, the Meta ’08 award winners were felicitated by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

In director Anup Hazarika’s own words: “The play Hamlet is the finest creation of the world’s greatest playwright William Shakespeare. Could we not have done without staging it? We could have staged any landmark Assamese play for that matter. Then why have I chosen Hamlet? I candidly admit – greed! Each and every theatre worker of this world has this insatiable desire to stage Shakespeare at some point or the other, whether or not he or she has the potential to do justice to the great Bard’s creations. If that desire remains unfulfilled, he gets no peace even in death. Hence, this risky feat of mine! After reading the play several times over, I realised that Hamlet can be grounded anywhere in the world as its characters and events are real and human. Wherever there is mankind, Hamlet is possible at every such place. Hamlet is present even in the air we breathe in the Northeastern part of India. I am trying to find Hamlet in my own familiar world – to see and analyse it through the eyes of someone who has lived his life in our part of the country. Here is a humble attempt to find the universality and value system of Hamlet in the emotional mindset of the people of the North East.”

Apurba Kr Das