Arts reflects society, it presents a graphic account of social currents and its ebbs and flows. Since an artist can hardly display an air of indifference to his surroundings, his art becomes a record of social upheavals and their consequences. Among the notable playwright of the post-independence era, Asif Currimbhoy achieves a remarkable success in churning out the subject of his drama from art, psychology, and religion. “Inquilab” depicts the struggle between classes with the rebels view that the root of economic malaise lies in the amassed wealth of the exploiters. The conviction that economic party will usher in a new social order, something like a utopian vision and this in the process, give birth to revolutionary, who assumes to guide society to a brave new world.
Amar is the son of prof. Dutta. His father is a teacher and scholar and believes in constitutional democracy and law and order. He had fought for freedom with Gandhiji. He believes in non-violence and the ideals of Sir. Ashutosh Mukherjee. There is a long discussion between Amar and his father. Amar feels that the present social and political system has gone rotten to the core. He tells Supriya “I have a mission It is dangerous I am possessed.” His love for Supriya defers him from his mission. But he never forgets that Supriya is the daughter of a Zamindar who is the symbol of oppression, tyranny, exploitation, and bourgeois against which he is fighting. So, Amar treats love only as a game and not as a passion like his mission.
Amar-Supriya scene after the bomb blast in college campus reveals another side of Amar’s character like a true revolutionary he is ready to die at any moment. He tells Supriya that revolutionaries are “Like the moths who are born in the day, cover their lifespan in a few hours and die by evening.” After the incident of bombing and the policeman being slain Amar has become trackless. His father and mother are anxious to find him out, Ahmed comes to them and says that Amar has gone underground. But Dutta is confident that his son can never kill anyone, Amar’s opinion about Jain is different from that of other revolutionaries. He argues with Shomic that Jain should be judged as an individual, not a class enemy. Amar feels that the approach of the revolutionaries in one unreasonable. They kill Jain and hang them on two poles.
Amar’s character is further revealed in scene-I of act-III, when he is consoling Supriya on her father’s death, Supriya accuses Amar of not doing anything to save her father. Amar although a revolutionary doesn’t agree to the way in which revolutionaries carry out this plan. He admits that there is something wrong in our society and our teachings. Amar is not in a position to assure her about that. Also, he tells Supriya that his mind and heart are taxed to the extreme. Thereby he wants to suggest that the next victim may be his father he will not be able to save him either. Just in the next scene prof. Dutta is killed, Amar is shocked and feels responsible for his father’s death. But he still believes in the socialist revolution but he disgraces with their method. This was also the attitude of his father, so finally, he has found his path-
“It is the same as that of his father.”
Like Hemingway’s protagonist in his novel ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ who is equally passionate about love and war, Amar finds himself caught in the cleft-stick between love and his revolutionary ideas. In the background of social conflict, the character of Amar represents a psychological dilemma which is resolved in a happy ending. The metamorphosis brought by the brutal killing of his father makes him experience the futility of the use of arms. Though still a votary of bloodless revolution Amar is disposed to tread the path of his father. The melodious music of “Shehnai” coming from a distance, echoes the happiness of marriage between Amar and Supriya. The new generation will certainly break a new ground of peace and prosperity. Shelley rightly says;
“If winter comes,
Can spring be far behind?”
