Janab-i-Wala Marr Chuke Hain is set in the Calcutta of the 1950s and is about the desire to live life on one's own terms. The play is about  discontent and frustration when an  individual negates societal norms and  faces its wrath for doing so.

The National Academy for Performing Arts has decided to breathe new life into the deteriorating art of theatre by holding stage plays regularly. Recently, their latest and fifth production, Badal Sarkar's Janab-i-Wala Marr Chuke Hain, ran for five consecutive days at the Arts Council Theatre in Karachi.

Before reviewing the play let's first talk about Badal Sarkar, a famous Indian dramatist. He penned more than 50 plays of which Ebong Indrajit and Basi Khabar are well-known literary pieces. Badal rose to prominence in the 1970s and was one of the leading figures in the revival of street theatre in Bengal. He revolutionised Bengali theatre with his angst-ridden, anti-establishment plays during the Naxalite movement.

His plays can be divided into three genres — existentialist plays like Ebong Indrajit (also said to belong to the absurd manner) which marked the modern theatre movement in India, comedies, and street theatre for which he is probably best known to the theatre community in India.

Directed by Fawad Khan, a Napa alumnus, Janab-i-Wala Marr Chuke Hain is set in the Calcutta of the 1950s and is about you, me and our desire to live life on our terms, which seems like a far-fetched dream to many. Unfortunately, our society questions the right of an individual to live life the way s/he wants to. The play is about discontent and frustration when an individual negates societal norms, in turn facing its wrath.

The play's main protagonist Samant (Paras Masroor) is seen struggling to find himself, a man of conflicts who is not only fighting his inner demons but tries hard to live outside the box with social obligations thrust upon him by society or his ownself. Samant is a famous poet but towards the end he is dragged to the courtroom to be judged for his crime — paving his own path and constantly struggling to keep on it. The courtroom scene at first seems like a dream sequence which gradually turns very real for Samant. Enters the prosecutor ( Mohammad Ali Rizvi) who presents Samant's case, claiming to have some solid evidence in front of an invisible judge. With the prosecutor aggressively presenting evidence in the form of his mother, the jilted lover, friends, teachers and associates, Samant decides to defend himself to prove that he has every right to live life the way he wants to.

High on philosophical content, Napa Repertory Theatre Company's Janab-i-Wala Marr Chuke Hain had its lighter moments and witty bannters, especially when the prosecutor was left tongue-tied while trying to extract evidence from some sharp-tongued witnesses.

The set design by Tanvir Abbas comprised stools, stairs and drapes with black being the dominant colour, giving the feel of an amphitheatre and it prefectly fitted the courtroom-based drama. Lights and sound by Uzma Sabeen managed to take the story forwards while rightlyfully highlighting the piognant moments of Samant's emotional roller coaster ride.

As for the cast, Maria Rabbab (Samati who is Samant's love interest), Samina Nazeer (Marnalini Saniyal, mother), Khizir Afaq (Manika Bose, jilted lover), Zeeshan Haider (Parsant Das, friend and fellow activist), Akbar Islam (Professor Amiya Mukherji), Farhan Shah (Shrivastav, boss), Kashif Farhad (Anand, friend), Mohammad Ali Rizvi (prosecutor), Paras Masroor (Samant) and others played the stage like pros.

In short, almost each and every cast member displayed peak energy levels most of the time during the performance with the exception of a few who were over the top, dragging or sedate. However, among the whole cast Paras Masroor managed to grab the limelight from the other performers.

Ably directed by Fawad Khan, overall Janab-i-Wala Marr Chuke Hain may have been heavy on the mind but an average person could relate to the plot as all of us harbour a secret desire to go against the flow and live our lives the way we want to.