Jasma Odan Adaptation Brings Gujarati Folk Legend to Dogri Theatre

Jasma Odan is a celebrated Gujarati play originally written by Shanta Gandhi and adapted in Dogri by Sh. Kavi Rattan, who is known as the father of modern Dogri theatre. The play brings a timeless folk legend into the cultural landscape of Duggar. In the story, Vaishno is a woman of virtue, beauty, and loyalty who belongs to a community of master craftsmen. When King Bhairo attempts to forcefully claim her, she remains devoted to her husband Basant. After the obsessed king kills Basant, Vaishno transforms into the fierce avatar of Devi to destroy the tyrant king and restore justice.

The production is directed by Dr. Abhishek Bharti and Aparna Kapoor. Dr. Abhishek Bharti is a theatre director and pedagogue from J&K, and a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar for Theatre Direction. Aparna Kapoor is trained at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, and is a former Actor-Teacher with NSD’s Theatre in Education programme.

According to the director's note, the production is designed in the traditional Dogri folk theatre form Haran and incorporates Dogri folk music forms such as Bhakh, Karak, Suhaag, Ghodian, and Geetru, alongside traditional dance and theatre forms including Haran, Jagarna, Jatar, Kud, and Fummnian.

The play is associated with the Department of Performing Arts under the School of Humanities and Liberal Arts at Cluster University of Jammu.