LUCKNOW, Sept. 22 -- The saga of the 12th-century unsung hero of Awadh, Maharaja Bijli Pasi, came alive on stage at Bhartendu Natya Academy on Monday. The play 'Maharaja Bijli Pasi' was staged in Nautanki style by the Bharatendu Natya Akademi (BNA) repertory. Written by Vijay Bahadur Srivastava, the play's music and direction were handled by noted theatre artist Neeraj Kushwaha. This is the first time in the history of the BNA repertory that a historical play has been effectively performed in the traditional Nautanki style. The play revolved around how Maharaja Bijli Pasi was a great warrior of Awadh who built 12 forts and fought for years against Jaichand, the king of Kannauj. When Jaichand tried to impose a tax, he refused out of self-respect. Jaichand faced continuous defeat over 12 years of war. Later due to Mahil's conspiracy, Alha-Udal were used as pawns and a fierce battle lasting 3 months and 13 days occurred in Ganjar (Gajariya), where the Maharaja was finally martyred after being surrounded through deceit by Jaichand's spies. The play begins from the present fort in Ashiana, Lucknow, from where the audience directly enters the 12th-century historical period. The rhythm of 'Nagada,' considered the soul of Nautanki, played the role of a main character in the presentation. Beautiful combinations of traditional verses like Chaubola, Doha, Daud, Lavani, Qawwali and Ghazal were featured. Special lighting was used to symbolically bring scenes of elephants, horses and wrestling alive in the limited auditorium. Dheeraj Kumar played the character of Maharaja Bijli Pasi and Maharani Chandrawati was played by Shrutikriti Singh....