Diwan Singh Bajeli wrote about Baanji Gauri in Indian Express in 1988
Comic comment on IRDP
Tipicallity, witty dialogue and biting satire mark Umakant Baluni's Banji Gauri, which was presented by the High Hillers Group at Shri Ram Centre.
Interesting the play is the maiden work by the young playwright. The script reflects contemporary socio-economic patterns in Uttrakhand, focussing on the essence of social antagonism, it is a commic comment on the elements on that are eating into the moral fabric of hill society.
The way integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) is being implemented in the hills becomes the object of the satirical ridicule of the play. In the name of development, the bureaucracy and the local leaders are all in the game of pocketing the money which should have gone to the needy. In the hope of getting financial assistance, the common man goes all through the bureaucratic mazes and in the end finds himself cheated by the official functionaries and local politicians.
The production under the direction of Mitranand Kukreti was adequately rehearsed. The chours was not imaginatively conceived to serve the dramatic purpose, though music by Umashankar Chandola was pleasing. The Kathawachak format adopted by the director for the production appeared to be incongruous. The long musical interludes tended to interrupt the comic rhythm of the play.
Most of the performers proved themselves as good comic actors. Dinesh Kothiyal and Girish Bisht as the persons who carry the corpse to the crematorium evoked peals of laughter. Khushal S. Bisht as Kesar Singh, the small time farmer whoc considers himself clever, finally come to grief for seeking government assistance for procuring a cow, impressed the audience. Kusum Bisht as the wife of Kesa Singh could have impressed the audience if she had delivered her line effectively. Moreover, her exits and entries were marred by abruptness. Sanyogita Pant as the daughter of Kesar Singh acted with verve.
