Building Taj Mahal in the scam era

Swatantra Theatre’s production explores the construction of the monument in the light of issues like corruption, red tape and bureaucratic power play

It took Emperor Shah Jahan 20 years to build the magnificent Taj Mahal owing to its detailing and intricate work. That was, of course, years ago. Imagine how long it would take for him to build the monument in today’s age, given all the resources at his fingertips. This is exactly what the play Taj Mahal ka Tender explores. The play revolves around the possibility of the emperor coming alive in our age, giving orders to construct the Taj Mahal in collaboration with engineers, contractors, babus, politicos and many more people who take the emperor on a roller-coaster ride.

More than two decades ago, Ajay Shukla’s Taj Mahal Ka Tender won the writer both the Sahitya Kala Parishad and the Mohan Rakesh Sanman. Now, Pune-based theatre group Swatantra Theatre is attempting to revisit the play with a modern twist. “It is about a hypothetical situation, if Shah Jahan was alive in the modern era and wanted to build the Taj Mahal, what would happen? The red-tape, corruption and all the other hurdles will be portrayed through the play,” says actor Dhanashree Heblikar.

The play begins when the emperor first decides to build a monument to commemorate Mumtaz Mahal and moves on to show the delays in the project. It reminds us of the present day reality, and uses satirical and situational comedy. “A number of the activities are carried on in typical sarkari fashion, for instance the tenders are issued and the contractors are hired. The very determined Shah Jahan is in no mood to accept excuses for delays,” she adds.

So does the project see the light of the day or does the emperor become a victim of the system as well? The chief engineer Guptaji plays is a negative character in the play. He uses every trick to disobey Shah Jahan’s orders for a quick construction of the monument. He cheats and drains the funds allocated for the construction to serve his own purposes. Everyone else involved in the construction too is greedy and dishonest. Each time the emperor asks for an update he gives lame excuses and in ten years’ time he also builds his own house. “The main challenge for us was to keep the characters natural, and not exaggerate them,” she says.
 When: August 14, 6.30 pm onwards
 Where: Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Sankrutik Bhavan, Ghole Road

zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com

Originally published on The Golden Sparrow