Drama As A Form Of Drama

Drama is an integral part of Literature of any language. Dictionary.com defines drama as “a composition in prose or verse presenting in dialogue or pantomime a story involving conflict or contrast of character, especially one intended to be acted on the stage.” Of all fictional forms, drama comes closest to virtual record of speech. It relies on imitating the language of everyday speech as well as the encounters and interaction of speech: lying, confronting, prevaricating, concealing, admitting, proclaiming, and a wealth of other social/linguistic interactions.

And of all the literary forms, drama is the one in which the author/dramatist hardly speaks directly to the audience/reader. Similarly, few dramatists create characters as medium for their thoughts or values. For the most part, dramatists convey ideas through their characters and the plot, rather than in a direct personification of themselves in the way novelists do with narrators and poets do with personas. Writing dramas is an art and it requires hard work and skills to create epic dramas. Like the contributions of William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde are immense to the western world, Girish Karnad’s playwrights are as important to the Indian literature- both vernacular and English.

The Fire and the Rain (1995) is a translation of Girish Karnad’s Kannada play, Agni Mattu Male. However, by using the Sanskrit word ‘Agni’ instead of the Kannda word ‘benki’ for fire, Karnad maintains the sanctity of the god of fire. “‘Agni’ is what burns in sacrificial altars, acts as a witness at weddings and is lit at cremations.” ‘Benki’ refers to any ordinary fire lit when a match is struck. The Kannada word ‘Male’ stands for rain, pure and simple having nothing to do with “the aura of r...

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... first staged in April 1996 at the National School of Drama’s (NSD) Studio Theatre in New Delhi, translated in Hindi by Ram Gopal Bajaj, directed by Prasanna, with music by B.V. Karanth under the title ‘Agni aur Barkha’. In English language, it was first staged in 1999 at the Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Banglore.

According to India Today’s M.M. Anna Veticad, “Karnad's weaving gets somewhat undone after a strong beginning and middle, with sub-plots and the sub-conscious getting all merged into a meandering whole.“

While some consider this play as Karnad’s greatest work, for some it is denigrating of Indian society as the mythological characters are twisted and shown in bad light. So far as the plays that are staged are concerned, the audience gave a mixed review as many a time the similar names and complicated plot confused them while some fell in love with the play.