"Tagore-nama" - Hindi play performed in Versova (Mumbai) on 30.09.2023

To hell with male!

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 35  देखिए )

The acuteness of guilt feeling is so high that both the real male culprits testify their guilt. But Oh the Male chauvinism! You are still not able to save an innocent homemaker from gallows! Either he is a husband or a magistrate he will put all the blames on some 'she' only with total disregard to all the facts emerging in the open sky. The state of patriarchy was at peak in Bengal in the British era. But has it changed completely. Yes it has changed in favour of woman but complete change is still a far cry only.

'Tagore-nama' a collection of small plays were performed at Asmita Theatre Studio in Versova (Mumbai) on 30.9.2023 on the auspicious occasion of 30th anniversary of Asmita Theatre Group. 

A number of Ravindra Nath Tagore's pithy stories were presented in a succession in the form of small dramatic plays. Let us first give a synopsis of the brief content of the plays.

The murder has been committed by someone else but the husband is requesting his wife to take the blame of it so that the actual culprit (his elder brother) is saved from being hanged. He says to the villagers that the wife can be brought again but not the brother. The wife is numbed. She astonishes that whether she had left her dolls in her father's home and came to her in-laws only to see such a doomed day? But if the husband and all persons are agree on such a barbarous plan then what's the point to live! She agrees. (Read the first para again here.) In the end, when she is about to being hanged the officer-in-charge asks her last wish. She says she wanted to meet her mother. When officer conveys her that her husband wants to meet her. She says,"..To hell with him".

In another story, a girl is married and brought to her in-law's home. But the mother-in-law is not happy for she could not bring the enough dowry. The mother-in-law mistreats her openly saying that she would have treated well if she would have brought more dowry. This news reaches to the father of the girl. He decides to sell off his house and fulfil the demand. But his married daughter vehemently oppose it. Also, his sons also oppose on the ground that he takes care of daughter only and not the sons. With a heavy heart he comes back to his home. After some days the newly-wed girl fell ill and wanted to go to her father's home. But the father was refused by the in-laws until the balance dowry is paid. She dies for want of treatment at her in-law's home. The same in-laws who never took care of the bride while she was alive performed the last rituals with a great pomp and show. Then immediately another bride was brought in the house whose father gave full dowry.

There was a pathetic story of a servant. He used to take the master's toddler son for walk. Once they were walking and the little boy asked for some flowers visible from the bushes at the bank of a river. When he went to bring the flower the toddler went into the river with a curiosity and was drowned. The servant was punished for this and thrown out of his master's home. When he returned to his village his wife became pregnant. While she gave birth to a male child she died. This boy was reared by his father (Servant) with a great love and care. But when he grew up he developed the traits of a rich person. The servant thought out a plan for repentance. He took his son to his master and told that this is his (master's) actual son. His master believed and took custody of the child but order the servant to go away because he concealed the truth from him. The servant pleaded to let him stay there. On this the child (Servant's son) suggests his new-found rich father to commit for some pension to the man. The servant went back. When the money-order of pension was sent it returned because there was no recipient living there.

The story of blind old beggar lady was equally moving. She had an adopted son whom she takes care of very eagerly. She had made some wealth out of begging and gave it to the custody of a money-lender so that it could be utilised in future for her son. Once her son falls sick. The old lady beggar goes to the money lender and ask for her money. The money-lender says there is no money of her with him. With great despondency, she comes back. After some days, the condition of her son worsens. She takes her son to the moneylender and beseeches to him for money so that she could consult the doctor and her son's life is saved. But the moneylender denies to it cruelly and says her to go away with her sick son. But the moment the moneylender casts a look on the boy he identifies him as his own lost child. After this he requests the old lady to give custody of the boy. The old lady hands over the boy to him saying that now you would take care of him because he is your son, but till it was mine you were wishing him to die. The woman returns alone. But the boy does not recovers and his condition worsens further. The doctor says that the boy is missing his mother and if she comes then he may recover. The moneylender goes to the old lady and begs him to accompany him so that the child is saved. She revenges on him saying she would not care if his son dies. But ultimately agrees to look after the boy who was her own. The boy recovers under the care of his motherly old lady. After the child is cured the old woman is about to return then the moneylender offers her the money bag she had given to him. But the old woman denies to accept saying this was kept only for the purpose of her son who is now with you. 

A story depicted the farce of professionalism  in art at the cost of humanity. There is a painter who is mocked at by his colleague  for lack of professionalism in his work. Their comments pinched him badly. Once his son fell ill. His condition became serious. Even though the restless wife kept crying and requesting him to call a docto, the painter remained busy in completing his artwork  for the forthcoming exhibition. The doctor could not be called and the son died. On this his wife was like lifeless and sat down taking the head of his beloved son in her arms. A great passion flashed into the painter's heart and he started a new painting of a mother taken the dead son in her lap. The painting was so realistic that it was the most acclaimed painting in the exhibition and even the taunting colleagues exclaimed their feelings that they would have liked to make him his teacher.

These were some of the stories presented. The artists were the students of this acting school namely Pradeep K Sharma, Prachi A Mishra, Soni Sharma, Manas Keswani, Siddhant Mishra, Navyug Gupta and others. The play was directed by the renowne3d director Arvind Gaur and Sangeeta Gaur had given the music.

This was not only the promptness but also the expressions and sound-modulation of the large number of participating actors that was remarkable. The credit goes to the director. 

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Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'
Send feedback to- hemantdas2001@gmail.com / editorbejodindia@gmail.com
Link of other drama- reviews:  Click here

"Aankh Micholi"- Hindi play staged in Bandra (Mumbai) on 24.09.2023

 'Crush' surviving the marriage

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 34  देखिए )

You often have a crush on someone who is beyond your reach. The moment you reach that person you discover it all was worthless. It's always brilliant to advocate liberalism with other's spouse but only till the point when your spouse begins dithering away from you for somebody else. 

Even a hardcore gentle person can turn a flirt wizard after watching this play.

It was exciting to behold the high-class natural comedy. I, you and all always keep two faces. One for self and the other for others. The more this is exposed, the more is humour. So, you find there is absolutely no need of absurd costumes, gaudy postures or vulgar themes for the best comedy. The best comedy is that which is meaningful and relates straight to viewer. 

Extra-marital sexual attraction is a phenomenon nobody is free from. And this play focuses on and deals it to the culmination. The drama script of C.P. Deshpandey as it was served by the director Vikas Bahari made it eminently clear that sexuality does not require vulgarity. 

An old flame of college days Ajay meets Naina at her home who is newly married to a CID offer. Naina is a sensible woman and does not fall prey to Ajay so easily but she could not resist the showering of plaudits from him. And gradually she is somehow in a mood of liking him. After all, he has been his ex-male friend (if not boyfriend). Ajay speaks highly of everything directly or remotely connected with Naina -  motif on her 'saree', colour of the walls, the sofa, the artworks, the brands she uses and everything you can imagine. He keeps praising everything about Naina along with simultaneously disapproving of everything about his wife Sandhya. For securing intimacy with Naina he blames that his wife is entangled with his collegue Vikas. Naina is a playful woman who relishes flirt but what Ajay is not knowing is that she is also wide awake about the limit. The moment Ajay begins to delineate the astrological grandeur of a mole on her face and then pleads her to show other moles on different corners of her body, Naina is alerted. Ajay is a master of seduction so instantly he changes his demand and pleads her to dance with him as they used to while in college. A full dance bite is here to enthrall the audience.

After the song played by the speaker is finished Naina goes to the kitchen for preparing coffee but Ajay was still jumping and murmuring the song when the CID officer caught him red-handed. A very witty conversation follows here between the legal and illegal claimant on the beauty of Naina. Two chirpy Hindi dialogues are given below-

"Jab do chor, alag-alag chor raston se chal kar ek hi jagah pahuchte hain to wah chor raasta nahi rah jata, highway ban jaaata hai"

"Jo log kam satark rahte hain unki grihasthi sukhad rahti hai aur mai apni grihasthi sukhad rakhna .... nahi chaahta.."

The CID officer schooled him to the brim but Ajay pleaded not guilty. So the CID officer thought an other plan.

In the next scene, when a natural brat was on of Ajay with his wife Sandhya just for nothing, the doorbell rings. Then there is Naina with her husband to be hosted by Ajay and Sandhya. Naina's husband plays every trick with Sandhya that was played with Naina at her home by Ajay. But Ajay pretends to be a 'liberado' and rather tries to enjoy his time with Naina once again. But.. but there is a trigger point at which Ajay is flabbergasted and thinks it is better to take hold of his wife rather than claiming someone else's. What is that trigger point? Go and watch the drama.

This sort of show is really a boon to the viewers. There was an extreme comedy but in perfectly natural circumstances. Every character is framed in a genuine and normal form the way we find them at our next door. The duplicity of someone's thoughts is the biggest source of humour and the playwright C.P. Deshpandey has tapped it utterly. The director Vikas Bahari has ensured that not even a single drop of it is missed. My heartful applauses to both of them.

The actor who played Ajay was just too hilarious! His mannerism can be paralleled with iconic Dev Anand with a high modicum of hilarity. In the scene of his home when Naina visits with her husband the ideological duplicity of his liberalism is brutally exposed. This nakedness of moral adventurism left everyone rolling around laughing. The laughter kept oozing out on every witty dialogue of Ajay and the CID officer. The two young and beautiful women maintained their sobriety while also kept adding to the humour from their end. So, there was a contrast of two restless men very keen to break the civil norms with the two women who were participating in the crossover after some feminine resistance. And by God's grace it all culminated on a civilized note.

Needless to mention that the CID officer and the two lady actors did brilliant jobs. The way the CID officer encircles Ajay without any concrete proof was incredible and became possible only through the perfect accent and pauses in his dialogue-delivery. He has a imposing personality which justifies his role. The gorgeous look and smile on Naina's face were very attractive and suited her role while the perplexity of Sandhya for her fondness to her colleague Vikas (who never came on-stage) was obvious. She impersonated perfectly the Indian woman who knows it well  how to bring a spoiled husband well on track. A natural beauty of her Indianness is praiseworthy.

The actors were Paritosh Tripathi, Jatin Sarna, Reena Agarwal and Priya Raina.

The excellent show must give credits to those who handled lights, sound and costumes which were faultless in the show. The set-designs of a middle-class household was also realistic.

The play was staged at St. Andrews Auditorium, Bandra (Mumbai) on 24.9.2023.

......
Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'
Send your feedback to- hemantdas2001@gmail.com / editorbejodindia@ghmail.com

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"You must die"- Marathi play staged in Thane (Maharashtra) on 16.9.2023

Anyone could have but who did it?

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 33  देखिए )

There is enough 'masala' that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Each character is possessing some distinctive characteristics of a murderer. Even though the matters go unfolding with passage of each scene you remain absolutely clueless till the very end of the play. Even though there is a perfect set-up seen walking behind the murder you can't quite put your finger on someone. 

Each character is a fit person to be suspected. There is a fresh murder and so many are in the family who you may doubt. As the shot down wheel-chaired man was paraplegic and ill-mannered, why not his attractive young wife might have conspired? Why not the cunning looking caregiver could have taken the life of his master if he could not succeed in blackmailing the family? Why not the widow step-mother might have committed the crime for huge insurance money? There is enough chance that the mentally retarded gun-loving younger brother would have done this actual murder as part of his game. His caregiver Julie is also potential of cherishing ulterior motives. The stranger who intruded with an SOS request and took charge of the situation as a savior of the survivors looks like an easy target to be suspected. And in the climax, one more murder is committed to the person who is the main culprit of the earlier murder.

So, who fired upon Anurag, the first victim? Go and watch in the theatre.

The police inspector and his assistant did marvelous job. The interaction between the dominant and subordinate officials was wonderful. Whereas the Inspector was seen always looking to some material to find a clue his assistant was always up to delineating every bit of findings into his register. 

The caregiver of the murdered man looked cunning with the countenance and body-language at every other second. The responses of the step-mother through her dialogues were colliding with her facial expressions putting her more in the mess of suspicion. The wife of the murdered man looked impudent enough masquerading with her licentious lover. The surprising fact was that she herself was clueless who murdered her husband. She was taking the blame perhaps just to save her lover. And in seclusion, when the wife's lover also expressed the ignorance about the culprit, the viewers were left completely nonplussed. The stranger and the lover did justice with the characters.

The retarded brother acted well when he was seen hopping around with his toy gun. But in the later part, his gun was not toy and a real one giving goosebumps to everyone. Julie in her sensible caregiver role acted well especially in the scene when her protegee is flirting with the real gun and she was trying to control her with her cajoling tact. 

The artists who embodied the different characters were Saurabh Gokhale, Sharvari Lohkare, Sandesh Jadhav, Vineeta Date, Neha Kulkarni, Ajinkya Bhosale, Pramod Kadam, Dhanesh Potdar, Harshal Mhamunkar. 

The play is written by Neeraj Shirwaikar and the director was Vijay Kenkade. Ashok Patki was the musician and lighting design was by Sheetal Talpade. Costumes were by Mangal Kenkare and Stage design was by Rajesh Parab. 

The playwright has set his script in a typical movie style but has carried up the plot justifiably till the very end. Vijay Kenkare is a virtuoso of suspense thriller and has again done it with consummate aplomb.

The duo of the Director and Playwright of this play has proved their amazing capability of keeping the viewers all agog from the first to the last scene notwithstanding the plot might be moving on a hackneyed track. I was satisfied with the thrills I got.

.....
Review by- hemant Das 'Him'
Send your feedback to- hemantdas2001@gmail.com / editorbejodindia@gmail.com

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"Okk hay ekdam"- Marathi play staged in Vashi (Navi Mumbai) on 10.9.2023

 A musical grouse in Corona backdrop

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 32  देखिए )

It was surely a hefty bunch of sweet melody and fantabulous dance bites well threaded to a Corona tale. 

Frankly telling, because of its pristine folk form of style and language, I could never get a hold of it and the play remained all Greek to me till the last point. AIl of my attempts of getting core of it fell flat. But I enjoyed the show as any other person will.

The issues raised were in the backdrop of  incessant spells of lockdowns in the Corona period. It took a heavy toll of life and amenities of daily wage earners including the 89 members of a 'tamasha' (a folk drama) group.  Through this play, they tried to show the true picture of adversity faced by the artists and how their attempt of getting help from the authority failed. 'Online' was the rage of the era. Every activity like marketing, dining, play, gossips, education and love, all had incarnated themselves in their 'online' avatara, why not 'tamasha' should also follow suit.

So a videographer was hired and a thrilling performance of 'tamasha' incorporating all essentials like music, song, acting dance and action was recorded for broadcast. The authority listened to their grievances and perhaps tried a help but there were many limitations. Many people died of Corona and some of them were perhaps related to this 'tamasha' group also.

The whole composition was a treat of dance, music and singing with a delicious splash of super-charged acting. The choreography was riveting and the whole atmosphere was charged up with excitement after the chorographical presentations . The front of the stage was resplendent with two towering pictures of  revered goddesses Laxmi and Saraswati.

In the whole play the word 'Vishwaguru' was uttered frequently. Though I could not transpire the actual context but I think it might have been used satirically. Also, on many occasions I found especially in the second half of the play, the actors were frequently sneezing as a part of acting perhaps to recreate the Corona ambience.

The play was jointly written by  Sudhakar Pote and Ganesh Pandit. The concept and research was by Savitri Meghatul and the director was Ganesh Pandit. The artists who acted in it were Savitri Medhatul, Vaibhav Satpute, Sudhakar Pote, Seema Pote, Panchu Gaikwad, Vinod Awasarikar, Vikram Sonavne, Abhijit Jadav, Pradnya Pote, Bhalchnadra Pote and Chandrakant Barsinghe.

All viewers can relish in song, dance and action of this play though for those who are well-versed in Marathi can enjoy it to the most.

.......

Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'

Send your feedback to- hemnatdas2001@gmail.com / editorbejodindia@gmail.com

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"Laadki" - Gujarati play staged in Chawpatty (Mumbai) on 3.9.2023

 A daughter in father's lap

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 31  देखिए )

The surgeon knows well that the probability is much less than perhaps 0.01% but a father is confident that his daughter will emerge from the surgery alive and completely healthy. A surgeon is a surgeon and a father is a father but alas! Both are the same person in this case. 

Never get confused with what is conspicuous in the script. Try also to read what is not written. See also what is not shown. And I tell you what is that. God is just another name of love. He has different forms for different persons. And for a loving doctor-father his patient-daughter is God. Saving her life is the biggest worship he can do. It is his staunch belief that his God can never die notwithstanding what the statistical probability is. He rejects to participate in religious rituals because he believes that there is no such hopeless case in his daughter's treatment that one should pray Almighty. He is the best surgeon in the world with 100% success track record and so his surgical treatment must work in the case of his daughter too.

A world-renowned surgeon has a very playful daughter whom he loves too much. He has amassed a good wealth which he wants to spend in his daughter's marriage. This news comes to a mafia and the extortion game turns bloody in which the daughter suffers bullets hits from her back. The bullet is at a very sensitive point on the spinal cord and as the medical team believes even if it is removed she would not survive the complications out of it. The daughter knows the futility of her treatment and pressurises her father to discharge from the hospital. The father knows that a patient who is already on various kinds of medical support in the hospital would not survive long after the discharge. So he denies to discharge even to the utmost chagrin to the daughter. On this the daughter files a case through her boyfriend and the court sentences in her favour.

Just the  moment the daughter comes in the house her father begins to beg to her to accept the forthcoming surgery so that the attempt to save her life should be made in full sense. But the daughter knows it is futile and she is going to die soon anyway either after or without surgery. So she decides not to undergo surgery. But the father is adamant. Seeing the father's sentiments, the daughter agrees for the surgery but before that she requests her boyfriend to marry her so that her father's duty is fulfilled on this vital social obligation. The wheel-chaired daughter wears red 'chunari' for marriage and the boyfriend puts vermillion on her forehead. She asks where is her darling father who wants her go get the surgery. Her mom and other say that he is the operation theatre and is waiting for her from there. On this, she allows her to be taken to the operation theatre. Just after her departure from the house, her father is seen sneaking out of his bedroom and wading through with heavy steps towards the operation theatre. Actually he wanted to ensure that the daughter has given the consent for the surgical operation. After all, it was going to be perhaps a journey to, God knows life or death. 

After the surgery, the scene becomes too poignant. Many inattentive viewers would again see what is shown. But the context is totally different. What is being shown is not intended to be taken on its optics value. The scene shown was that the surgeon-father is beseeching his wheel-chaired daughter to stand on her feet, come to his lap and let him fondle her as he used to do in her early childhood. It is also shown that there happens a trembling in her whole body and slowly she becomes normal and actually wobbles her way to the lap of her father. The moment she reaches there, her father dies. This scene is symbolic. Actually a discerning viewer might have seen that the father's love to his daughter remained alive and became healthier but his confidence that love can change impossible to possible dies.

Among the hundreds of plays watched by me in the last nine-ten years this was one which moved me from within and left absolutely helpless in keeping myself composed. The show was a live testimony of the fact that drama is the strongest medium of conveying a feeling. In the last scene, the way the protagonist called on his daughter to come to his lap was not an acting but like an exudence of a soulful poem into action. I bow to the excellence of this exceptionally talented actor! This pithy scene was elaborate and in fact,  incorporated all the essentials of the play. And it all was nothing but the sheer, unbound, selfless love of a father to his daughter.

This play shows a fight of a father to a surgeon, a fight of feelings to facts. A human life is not like a car which runs simply on petrol. A human life is wait, excitement, pain and danger of a journey.  This  goes much beyond the maps, itineraries and fuel. If you feel it you live otherwise you are just spending your days. 

A legal buff will find the script vulnerable on many counts of ethical and human right issues. After all, what a father-cum-doctor was doing? He was forcefully trying to keep the patient within the hospital against her will. And the pressure was so hard that the patient had to seek the judicial remedy. Even after she was lucky enough to get a judicial favour and so discharged from the hospital, the pressure was again mounted on her for undergoing a surgical operation which she absolutely hated.

But the stunning aspect of the wrangle was that the love between father and daughter was not diminishing and still got growing even in midst of their confrontational stances. The father and daughter both knew that she is going to die soon anyway without a regard to whether she is kept in the hospital or she undergoes the surgical treatment. The daughter wanted to enjoy the normal love and pleasures in her last days but the feelings of a father-surgeon was not giving way. His optimism was alive till his daughter was and so he was not ready to let any stone unturned in making his daughter cured. Even if the chances of success was too meagre he wanted to take because of his staunch optimism towards his daughter. 

Though the playwright has tried his best to come out scot-free on ethical ground and has perhaps succeeded in getting a narrow escape. This is because the doctor-father went to the operation theatre only after ensuring the consent of his daughter. But again, whether the question is not here as she might have given consent under emotional duress of her father? Whether she did not know that she was going to die instantly and whether that was not the reason she married her boyfriend before the surgery so that the father should be freed from the guilt-feeling that he could not marry off his daughter.

I find no words to express the excellence of the playwright's work. Such a masterpiece in a regional language is simply a boon for the whole humankind.  The name of playwright is Vilopan Desai and the director of the show was Dharmesh Vyas. The artists who acted were Pratap Sachdev, Gazal Rai, Hitesh Upadhyay, Sharad Sharma, Sanjivani Sathe and Rajkamal Deshpande.

Full credit goes to the playwright and the protagonist of the play. The direction was powerful which kept the viewers engaged throughout the play and let them feel it like the real life story in their neighborhood. The sombre outlook of the play was successfully tuned down to the normal, time to time with the natural comedy scenes of the nurse in the hospital and the uncle in the house. I have already mentioned about the acting of the protagonist in the sixth para above. Had the  daughter not matched her father in delivery of her acting skills it would not have been possible for the protagonist (doctor) to take the play to the new skies of emotions. Her acting was actually more challenging because she had to remain bed-ridden for most of the time. But the director made her bed half-risen from the back side which allowed the viewers to make an eye-contact with the vital character of the play. Other actors who acted as the patient's boyfriend, mother, uncle, aunt, don and goons also did their stints in a meaningful manner. 

This play will lie in the memory of the viewers like a cherished memory for lifetime. 

.......

Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'

Send your feedback to- hemantdas2001@gmail.com / editorbejodindia@gmail.com

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"Hai Mera Dil" - a Hindi play staged in Chembur (Mumbai) on 26.8.2023

A kind husband is a bigger danger

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 30  देखिए )

If someone is husband and he is not skeptic, it means there is a bigger danger to the wife. The sudden disappearance of intra-family stress is something most nauseated by a wife and she turns extremely inquisitive. And you know it better where the inquisitiveness of a wife invariably leads to. 

A 42 years old husband Madan has a charming wife Usha and they live peacefully. The husband is though physically fit but he prefers to a get-up and mannerism best suited to an greybeard pensioner. One day, a male ex-classmate of college days of Usha comes to her house for some work and stays for some days. Usha asks her husband to accompany her and her old male classmate for shopping. But the husband (Madan) is feeling some heart pain and so he allows both Usha and her old male friend to go for shopping together. The same thing happens for some days. Initially Usha enjoys strolling around the city with an unmarried and youthful male ex-classmate but ultimately she doubts the motive of her husband. How a husband cannot object his wife moving out for excursion again and again with another man. There is certainly something amiss! And she concludes there must be some girlfriend of her husband who would be accompanying him in his revelry in absence of the wife. So, an epic fight of husband-wife begins. Ultimately, the husband admits that yes he liked his wife to go out with her male ex-classmate and he really wanted that both should befriend each other much deeply so that both could marry in near future. Hearing this the wife is in full rage but just before she is about to turn horribly violent the husband clarifies that there is no girlfriend of him. He further tells that the doctor has said that he is going to die soon so he wanted that her wife should chose some boy for marrying so that her future is safeguarded. Usha is stupefied over this news but she begins to looking after her husband like a loyal wife. 

When Usha is not at home, the husband calls a monument-builder and orders him to build a memorable civil structure in his memory soon after his death. He has also requests one of his drunkard friends to write his biography which should be published after his death.  One day when Usha is at home, the doctor friend comes at her flat with a big fish in his hook. The moment he offers the fish as gift, Usha expresses anger how a severely cardiac patient (her husband) can eat fish? Then the doctor understands everything and opens the secret that the terminally ill patient he was talking about over a phone call from her house was someone else and not her husband. The whole thing turns a U-turn again and the wife again suspects that this all story of 'dying' was nothing but a hoax which was cooked up only to be used as a subterfuge for debauchery and indulgence with the girlfriend. The husband is again helpless but then the monument-builder knocks at the door to show the designs of monuments for which he has already been paid Rs. 4.20 lakh. The wife now believes that she has got a hypochondriac but a cent-percent loyal husband who not only thinks about her in his lifetime but also cares for her after his life.

This whimsical comedy has been running on stages since 1970s till now and more than 1125  of stage presentation have been made of it.  "Hai Mera Dil" is a Hindi adaption of Broadway play by Norman Barasch and Carroll Moore, also made into 1964 American comedy film, "Send Me No Flowers". The Hindi adaption is made by Ranbir Singh who has been able to reap the best out of the original.

Preeta Mathur Thakur, Aman Gupta, Atul Mathur, Shankar Iyer, Gujan Sinha, Sangam Rai,Sapna Choubisa & Rohit Goswamy were  the artists in this play. The play originally directed by Dinesh Thakur who also acted he lead role  in large number of shows in his lifetime. It was now directed by his wife Preeta Mathur Thakur. 

The whole hall erupted in laughter in two scenes of imaginary thoughts. In one, the husband imagines that after his death, his wife is selling balloons for her livelihood and is deceived by the buyers for her poor mathematics. In another, the wife imagines that her husband is on loving binge with the witch girlfriend.

Preeta Mathur Thakur and Aman Gupta were a good combination as a delusive husband and fun-finder but super-alert wife. The way the husband Madan (Aman Gupta) pushes down the dialogues with a handing face it certainly gives an impression of a dying man. On the other side, there is the agile wife Usha (Preeta Mathur Thakur) with all her sixth sense working who can readily smell a rat in anything. The male ex-classmate of Usha also befittingly an army officer. The drunkard advocate friend was truly in a tipsy avatar. The doctor and monument-builder also did their job well. A dance sequence of hypochondriac with his concocted girlfriend added musical flavour to the show. As a whole, the show was superbly entertaining which made the people suffer from laughter bouts throughout the play. 

The show proves some plays are evergreen and "Hai Mera Dil" is one of them. This is mentioned as the longest running comedy in the history of Hindi theatre.

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Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'

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"Baap Ka Baap"- Hindi play staged in Bandra (Mumbai) on 13.08.2023

 A mindless romantic competition

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 29  देखिए )

"Kitne saal laga diye aapne mujh se milne me

  Jaise darji ne bahut waqt le liya meri shaadi ka suit silne me" 

(Hindi dialogue in the play)

A 38 years old woman falls in love with a man of 40 years - No surprise? Then listen to this. An 18 years teenager girl is crazily in love with a 80 years old grand gaffer. Both are true in this play.

A widower father (Asrani)  is very concerned about his son who is not marrying even after reaching 40 years of age. The house is a den for constant little wrangles on this matter. Ultimately one fine day, the man succeeds in persuading a beautiful woman (Padmini Kolhapure) to marry him. He brings that woman to his house to introduce his father and finds out that there is already a new pandemonium in surge. His 80 years old father is romancing with a teenager lass. And to give it a dizzy turn, the teenager girl is identified as the real daughter of the woman brought by the 40 years old man.

In the midst of all mindless awkwardness, a whole lot of clash, arguments and emotional drama follows. Still,  the cynical senescent old man and the heedless devil girl are adamant on going along with their salacious episode . Here comes a new turn to the story. The 40 years old man declines the idea of marrying the woman he brought on the ground that he would prefer a virgin unmarried woman. On the other hand, the 80 years old man and 18 yeas old girl declare that they are going to marry each other. It is only after the revelation of a big mystery that the bedlam goes and a rule of law prevails in the house. What is the mystery? Find out in the theatre house. In the end, 40 years old man and 38 years old woman tie up the nuptial bond.

When two celebrated movie icons of erstwhile are on stage then you see hardly any difference in stage and a silver-screen. Padmini Kolhapure of "Pyar jhukta nahi" fame and "Angerejon ke zamaane ke jailor" of the most successful movie in Indian history 'Sholay" comedian Asrani again rocked on stage. It was a feast to viewers to watch the stage versions of superhit songs like "Aa dekhen zara, kisme kitna hai dam..", "Chali hawa, jhuki ghata, kuch hua kya?..", "Saala mai to saheb ban gaya..". It was absolutely unbelievable that Asrani at 82 and Padmini Kolhapure at 57 can hop around like a adolescents! The group dances were well-choreographed. Doubtless in acting, Asrani and Padmini were as impressive as they are in their hit movies. Naveen Bawa showed his mettle in delivering comedy 'sher's (couplets) leaving the audience with helpless incessant laugh.  Chitranshi Raawat established her authority with her superb devil-may-care mannerism perfectly as required. Her body language impressed all the viewers.

The play was written and directed by Naveen Bawa. The script was tight and the story flew in a seamless manner. Direction was deft though the overacting in body-language of the teenager girl is an area of qualified approval. 

The viewers enjoyed the show in full - the whole gamut of comedy in body-language and humorous couplets, music, group dance, serious scenes and take-away message. The talk on the play can roughly be succinate as "If the youthful middle-aged group does not do their job, the super-older and super-younger duo has to do that.

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Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'

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"Jar tar chi gosht" - Marathi play staged in Thane on 5.8.2023

 Rejuvenated wreckage

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 28  देखिए )

You can make your future but can't delete your past. The same is true with marital life. Whatever good or bad your earlier spouse had been, he (or she) remains an essential part of your life story. It is always preferable not to touch oneself on the raw but God forbid if If time plays tricks and puts two ex-spouses at a seclusive resort then what happens is a full comedy. Humour soars to the highest echelons of the sky in such a situation what is shown in the Marathi play- "Jar tar chi goshta".

Samar and Radha are doing great in their professional life after their divorce. In the past 3 years they have chosen their new partner and are now settled with that. In normal course, But by chance, they come across each other at a resort. Their (then spouses) are there still they are able to find enough time for private interaction with their ex.

I could not watch the whole play as I reached after the interval. But what I saw looked highly confusing for me. The ex-husband was in conversation with his ex-wife. And it was like a bout of bipolar psychriatic disorder. In one moment he was beseeching the lady to forgive him and show the sympathy but on just another he was there full of accusations and charges for her. The viewers burst into guffaws again and again on every gestures of this dramatic ex-couple. And at the end there was a tuneful song "Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hai" sung by the lady and supported on Guitar by her ex or present partner. 

The play was fully successful in compelling the people to laugh because of it's funny theme and strength of comedy acting. The credit also goes to the scriptwriter Irawati Karnik who imagined and carried out well such a unique circumstance.

Adwait Dadarkar and Ranjit Patil were the directors of the play. Without their apt direction, the actors Priya Bapat and Umesh Kamat in the leads could not have cast a spell. The supporting actors Ashutosh Gokhle and Pallavi Ajay also did a good job.  It was the premiere show and the whole auditorium was packed.

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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

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"Hichtar familichi gammat aahe" - Marathi play staged in Navi Mumbai on 29.07.2023

 Matching up the lacunae

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 27  देखिए )

If a chap with his hooligans gives a full-blown whistle from the window just opposite to that of a young lady, what should be the response? Yea , you are correct. The girl is ready to wage a war against those. Without wasting time, she walks up to just beneath their window furiously. The boys are appalled hearing the toughest warning from the girl. The warning is that the whistle boy should visit her house with a marriage proposal to her. 

In a normal Indian scenario the family of the whistling boy must have been aghast on this development. But unexpectedly it happened totally reverse.  They are glad and oblige the warning uttered by the girl. 

Wow! Such a storyline is possible only in a comedy. Yes it is a comedy but the sequence of acts mentioned above does have a very sombre undertone also. The proposer boy cannot see in night hours and the whistled girl cannot see in day time. Handicaps are also with other characters and it would not be an exaggeration if I say this play a symposium of specially able people. Keeping in view of dignity issue of specially able people in real world the scriptwriter has shown such handicaps that are normally not found in the real world in exact fashion as shown. Physical handicaps shown here are just the representation of societal shortcomings.

The elder brother of the girl is perhaps suffering from short memory who is well looked after by his caring wife. The condition of the opposite family is also not lagging behind. The merit in one boy you already know that he cannot see at night. One of his brother cannot hear most often and the third brother can hardly speak two words at a time. Here also, the wife of the eldest one takes care of all and is like an iron pillar of the family.

The interesting issue is the decision on timing of marriage negotiation. Since both families want to conceal the special ability of one's own ward, both are very sensitive about the time of meeting. One side prefers day time as his ward cannot see at night and so with similar reasons other party prefers night hours as the girl cannot see in day time. In coincidence of their sagacity, the time is fixed to be the evening  so that their shortcoming should not be exposed. But you know unintended revelations are the very gateway of storm of laughter. 

The comic bit of greeting 'namaste' has came out too hilariously! The elder brother of the lad has a hearing loss and he bids 'namaste' to the sister-in-law of the girl and she also retorts with a 'namaste'. But as he could not hear the reply he again offers ' namaste' and the kind lady again retorts in courtesy. But the man never hears the reply of his greeting and keeps on offering 'namaste' innumerable times causing extreme embarrassment to the guardian lady of the bride-to-be. Even the biggest stone hearts will burst into laughter on this episode.

Things seem to go awry during the course of negotiation but ultimately everyone comes to know each other's shortcomings and they all agree to live with and support each other/. Yea sure, a nuptial knot is tied between the whistle boy and the whistled-on girl. 

The play moves on with an feverish speed like a bullet train and you come to be a witness of pace being used as a technique of humour. The whole play is virtually dependent on promptness of action-reaction and the actors have stood astoundingly well on this yardstick. 

The scriptwriter and the director of the play was Santosh  Pawar . The actors were Sagar Karande, Shalaka Pawar, Sayali Deshmukh, Ramesh Wani, Siddhirupa Karmarkar, Ajinkya Date and Amogh Chandan. Music was a valuable ingredient that was provided by Ashok Patki.

Co-existence of the different groups of people with their shortcomings is the takeaway that is successfully laid down by the play in an extremely jocular manner.
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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

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"Wada Chirebandi" - a Marathi play staged at Dombivli, Kalyan on 22.07.2023

Sullen family fabric on the test of time

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 26  देखिए )

It is certainly a cultured joint family with a golden past. The members are also naturally humane. Unfortunately, the whirl of the wily time has brought all cohesive forces to the anvil of adversity.

There is not as much a grief as a sigh of relief over the death of Tatya, the head of the joint family. They all belong to a socially reputed landlord clan While India has been making strides in twentieth century with a modern outlook this tradition adorer still tried to rule his family with all kinds of archaic prohibitions and taboos. The girls could neither get higher education nor could be married off. Now, the gene of zamindari cultural has directly passed into the eldest son.  He is trying to take up the gauntlet of his father claiming the full authority of the estate and other belonging. But see the farce, he has no resources to observe the customary Shraddha rituals with full dignity of a zamindar. Moreover, his wife who is the eldest daughter-in-law of the house has already taken over the charge of the keys of the jewelry and valuables as if her mother-in-law or others have no say.  Two thoughts are flashing in the mind of the eldest son - to ask his younger brother to spend an exemplarily huge amount  on Shraddha karma or to seek a further loan for the ceremony. The hope of getting loan again is a far cry as the earlier instalments of repayments are still due. The girl wants to flee the shambles of a broken castle and join Bollywood. She is eying on her tutor for her elopement.

The younger brother has come from Bombay after many days of the death of his father but thankfully before the Shraddha ritual. He who is supposed to spend aa hefty amount for the last rituals of his father has himself cherished many plans to get his large chunk from the estate and valuables of the house. Tatya's wife is the only person who is really sad on the departure of Tatya. Tatya's mother is  lying on the bed without the eyesight or hearing capability for gerontological reasons.

There is a male character with bandaged foot. Perhaps a tractor crushed his foot. One of the son just loiters around the village with no work in his hand.

This drama is not about putting a storyline but to show you how the fabric of a joint family is dismantling because of hard realities mainly of economical nature.

The gloom loomed large all around the set for the most part of the second half. I admit to have missed the first half of the play. The set-design was truly a statement of the adversity faced by the lineage of the lost zamindari. It was specifically designed as if to no ray of hope should trickle in onto the set giving a full bloom to the gloom. The set-designer has done a marvelous job.

"Wada Chirebandi" is the first of the trilogy by Mahesh Elkunchwar, a well-known name in Marathi dramas. Chandrakant Kulkarni was the director of the play. The actors were Nivedita Sharaf, Vaibhav Mangle, Ashish Kulkarni, Pournima Manohar, Pratima Joshi, Dhananjay Sardeshpande and Akshay Patil. 

Such a realistic depiction was impressive. This play works like a slow but effective medicine that heels your wounds of gloom if creeping inside. It gives you a sense of belonging and you feel you are not the sole person facing the harsh realities.  You never startle over the performance even for a single chance but actually you feel to be a part of the story moving on. To show you the harsh details of the family is the  sterling work of the playwright but to let you feel to be a part of it is the success of the director and the actors.

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Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'
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