The much awaited Performing Arts Festival of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Histrionica 2016, got off to a spectacular start with Mr. Manoj Bajpayee and Mr. Rajkumar Rao coming down for the promotion of their new movie ‘Aligarh’ along with the director, Mr. Hansal Mehta.
The entire auditorium bustled with a full house and eagerly listened to them as they shattered the wall of Section 377 brick by brick. The movie ‘Aligarh’ revolves around a professor who prefers to share his bed with a man instead. ‘Is this such a heinous crime?’ the movie questions the entire Indian mentality. The session reached its peak as Mr. Mehta went on about the Censor Board and its illegitimate decisions with respect to A-Rated scenes. “The Censor Board needs sex” said Mr. Mehta as the audience erupted with laughter. The session, being a highly interactive one, then moved on to the further questions being posed by the audience to the celebrities, be it dialogue recitals or their views on sensitive issues. A highlight worthy of mention was when Mr. Manoj Baypayee enticed the audience with his dialogues from Gangs of Wasseypur and Mr. Rajkumar Rao spoke about his secondary role in Queen.
As the clock struck 1:30, the stick first struck the dafli, marking the beginning of the Street Play Event-Aahvaan.
The common call, being the most awaited part of the day then began as the entire college gathered at the Co-op and watched the Dram-Soccers form a huddle in excitement to dance their life out, in pure bliss. The campus echoed with “Aao Aao, Naatak Dekho” and the daflis continued to play as they marched around the campus, making every soul in college shake a limb. The various selected street play teams then went on to perform and were judged by the renowned Atul Satya Kaushik, the lyricist of the all-too-famous SRCC call song-‘Oha’ and Satyendra Malik, an SR Alumni
The street play team of The Dramatics Society of SRCC made its first home performance as they presented their play “The Defective Ward” which brought many to tears. The event ended with valuable and critical feedback provided by the judges and all the teams returned as winners.
The second day commenced with the stage all set and auditorium filled with theatre lovers for Histrionica’s stage play event-Charades. To begin with we had the team from Ramjas college showcasing their talent in their annual stage play production ‘Deluxe Hair Cutting Salon’ ,followed by a thought provoking monologue ‘Shakkar ke Paanch Daane’ presented by the team from Shaheed Bhagat Singh (evening) College. The annual production of Shivaji College ‘Jeevita Chellave’ beautifully wrapped up the first day of Charades leaving the audience awe-inspired and eager for more.
To make the day even more blissful we had Mr. Randeep Hooda gracing the occasion with his presence in the celebrity interactive session. The event started off on a humorous note where Mr. Hooda joked about his surprise and disappointment at not turning up in Miranda House, for that was the impression he was under all the while. The actor went on to talk about a wide variety of topics- from the ‘great performance’ of MP’s in the parliament and the ongoing Jat Stir to how he got his first role. He had the audience in fits of laughter when he openly discussed his weirdest fan experiences wherein a lot many girls had expressed their desire to be kidnapped by ‘Mahabir Bhati’.
From discussing burning issues with a light hearted approach to explaining how finding a job was the hardest task for an actor, the actor’s charisma kept the audience mesmerized.
Right after the session ended , a group of young theatre aspirants from various colleges had a short personal workshop with Mr. Hooda.
The third day of Histrionica commenced with an enthusiastic audience that packed the auditorium to witness the fist event for the day; Charades. The first play was Veronica’s Room, a production by Sri Venkateshwara College, followed by Party; a play by Hansraj College.
Our home production Blithe Spirit was cheered on by a house full in the auditorium. The play was greatly praised for its key elements of humour and the mysterious atmosphere of the supernatural that it created. The closing play was Characters Revolt. A play presented by Hindu College.
Later, Mr Piyush Mishra interacted and sang to the audience in The Stage. The event started off with Mr Mishra telling about the struggles he’s faced during his transition from theatre to Bollywood. It was followed by a question on his version of ‘ishq’ to which Mr Mishra recited shers from his own book titled ‘Kuch Ishq Kiya Kuch Kaam Kiya’. He then sang his famous songs – Husana, Duniya, Aarambh and Ik bagal on popular demand from the audience.
The last event of the day was Live Wire where the immensely talented Mr Nikhil D’souza performed his various songs. The parking lot was full with students and music lovers who cheered, swayed and danced until the day ended.
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