T-Pot Production's "Jannat Central" staged at Prithvi Theatre (Mumbai) on 27.12.2018

The paternal love of an unmarried father

You are in a dense forest when you get to learn that there is a city just behind the tree. The plot was bewildering and the viewers were absolutely clueless where  they were pushing through. Though, then there was a Bollywood masala ending to douse your eagerness. Nevertheless, it was not just the story people had been sitting for. This was the spell of stunning acting and the symmetrical beauty of choreography that mesmerised everyone. People were amused by the plentiful group dances coming intermittently that fitted well with the progress of the story of a dancer family. 

A paranoid girl named Jannat lives with Nutty, her room partner who is also not less quirky. The paranoia of her dead mother remaining alive is but natural and she meets and talk with her.. Nutty has no way but to match on the abnormality quotient to get along with her. Still she has a great feeling of care for Jannat who better calls herself as jsut 'J'. . The problem of Jannat's mental sickness worsens when a boyfriend of Nutty enters in the story.There is a sense of insecurity and seclusion.

At  this point of time the father of Jannat pitches for meeting her. Jannat, whose mother he never married and who is under belief that he is the real culprit behind the death of her mother. He tries to take help of the psychotherapist but the psychopathic daughter is totally hostile of the doctor. Ultimately, the father is able to show the flash back to Jannat by speaking the past story and it is revealed that he had in fact been in a love relationship with her mother and they were going to marry after a few days. And on the day of Ganesha puja her mother came under a train over the railway track while saving her beloved child Jannat. And the happy ending is characterised by another piece of splendid group dance.

Not only the two girls but all the actors were able to give a good show of their dancing skill with the help of their nimble physiques. The clinical level of aberration in the behaviour of jannat was well carried over and the presentation of quirks of Nutty was forceful enough to make people laugh loudly. Father and psychotherapist  played natural acting. The dance diva gave a beautiful dancing performance that along with the dance of her lover was breathtaking. The sound system and lights were state of the art and immaculate. 

The dilemma of the father of a girl the mother of whom he never married is very complex. His feelings are not appreciated by his real daughter though this casts no effect on his one-sided love for his progeny. The love is unconditional, pure and persevering. Even while the daughter charges him with causing death of her mother his love does not diminish even for a nugget. The man playing this role delivered all the paradoxes accurately that such a fathers might passe through.

The character of dance teacher has not just to teach dancing but has to deal with the bizarre aspirations and responses of the girls too. The actor came through all of it well.

The morning practice laughter group members has become classy for its incisive dialogues.  People are so engrossed with their idea to laugh that they pay no heed even to a dead body lying just a foot away. In fact they have lost the sense to differentiate between life and death. Such a prosaic life we are living with nowadays. Isn't it so? 

Sandip Soparrkar, Trishla Patel, Shashank Vishnu Dutt, Mithun Purandare, Jaya Virlley, and VedikaSingh  formed the cast of the play and their remarkaable acting acumen has been discussed above. The choreographer Sandip Soparrkar deserves special appreciation for her rare mettle in group dancing and director Trishla Patel truly got thumping applause from the packed up auditorium. 

This was Aabracadabra Entertainment & Events presentation that was produced by  T-Pot Production and the format was a good mix of separate chunks of dance and drama. Your muse climbs a step up while watching such a play of avant-garde genre.
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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

Photographs by - Bejod India 

Email Id for response - editorbejodindia@yahoo.com

Writer: Trishla Patel
Director: Trishla Patel & Shashank Vishnu Dutt
Cast: Jaya Virlley, Rumana Molla, Shashank Vishnu Dutt, Sandip Soparrkar, Ankita Dolawat, Mithun Purandare, Aastha Deorah, Anuj Rampla, Vedika Sai, Garrvil Mohan, Aakash Sharma & Fatema Arif.
(This picture is taken from the website of bookmyshow on 30.12.2018)