A few years back, when Ila Arun was invited by theatre exponent and lighting designer Nissar Allana to adapt a Henrik Ibsen play, she immersed herself in the Norwegian playwright's writing. Realising how timelessly relevant his stories were, she began to reimagine them in the Indian context. In 2016, 'Peechha Karti Parchhaiyaan,' her adaptation of Ibsen's 1882 play 'Ghosts' was staged for the first time and now its teleplay version will be available on the small screen courtesy Zee Theatre. The play was directed for stage by director and actor K.K.Raina and after more than 50+ successful performances across India, it premiered at Tata Play Theatre on 25th August.
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Ila has written Ibsen's story about intergenerational trauma in a feudal Rajasthani household and also plays the central role of Rani Yashodhara (Baisaheb). Forced by tradition and notions of family honour to conceal the secrets of her late husband Maharaja Kunwar Viraj Bhanu Pratap Singh, she is however unable to prevent the past from revealing itself. The toxic revelation then goes on to have a devastating impact on her young son played by television star Param Singh. KK Raina plays a patriarchal priest while Priyamvada Kant and Vijay Kashyap also play pivotal parts. Saurabh Shrivastava is the filming director of the teleplay.
Talking about her role, Ila says, "I am from Rajasthan and my understanding of its milieu enabled me to etch the layered character of this conflicted matriarch. Rajasthani women appear to be very soft but they are warriors at heart. Baisaheb is also a very traditional woman but in a crisis, she fights with everything she has to protect her son"
Talking about the feminism inherent in the play, Ila says, "No matter which era a woman belongs to, she is still a woman and expected to conform to tradition. The era Yashodhara belongs to did not give her the freedom to speak up but as a writer and a woman of today, I raised my voice for her and other women like her. My hope is that every woman who watches this teleplay will feel inspired to voice what is on her mind and find the strength within to question outdated traditions."
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