"Sumi aani Amhi"- Marathi play staged in Vashi (Navi Mumbai) on 8.7.2023

The dilemma of a professional unmarried girl

( हिंदी में समीक्षा के लिए -   यहाँ क्लिक करके क्रम सं. 24 देखिए )

You can break everything in this world but the bonding between a father and daughter. The play "Sumi aani Amhi" does not merely vaunt the super-special relationship between a father and daughter but also encompass the wrathful patches of it. 

Sumi is the darling of her parents since early childhood. Her parents make a middle-class family and raise their daughter with their best of resources. The daughter becomes an IT professional and after some time she plans to pursue her Masters in Science from California University, USA. The retired couple for whom even a ten thousand of rupees is a significant amount arranges somehow rupees ten lakh for her foreign education. One of the colleagues of the girl promises to help her in arranging further expenses and all the foods and lodging In California. Sumi writes a letter from her workplace in Bengaluru to her parents in Mumbai. This missive falls like a bombshell on the parents. Actually, she had mentioned about her boyfriend who will give shelter to her in the foreign land. Which Indian father has such a widespread heart that could accommodate such a digression from their culture? Both parents are in doldrums after reading the letter. The family doctor who had helped the girl in arranging the fund is also upset with the boyfriend string of the matter. On top of it, the girl makes a call to convey that she would catch the flight for USA from Mumbai but would not get time to visit her home. So her parents should come to the airport to see her off.

In the midst of the darkest gloom which also affects their health severely, the parents witness the surprise arrival of their daughter Sumi. In fact she could not resist herself from meeting her parents. Now she is in huge dilemma how she will go leaving her parents. Then a phone call comes from her boyfriend who has hired a beautiful well-furnished flat for living together with Sumi. But on a certain statement made by the boy the girl is flabbergasted. There is a dramatic change at this juncture. For knowing about what was the statement made by the boyfriend and what happened thereafter you should go to the theatre and watch the play.

As is evident from the collage of photos, the beauty of the set-design can be appreciated and you wonder whether occupants of this residential unit should face problem in arranging further 40 lakh rupees as required for Sumi's education?

Mohan Joshi as the father was in his excellent performance. The whole gerontology was epitomised by his demeanor and dialogue-delivery. Savita Malpekar in the role of mother was also well noticeable with all her caring attitude of a cultured Indian family. She provided a strong support to Mohan  Joshi. Shraddha Pokharankar in her lead role of Sumi did justice with her character. The dance on the child-song "Twinkle twinkle little star" was well-conceived and executed. The synergy between the director, music-composer and actor was stunning. Purushottam Berde was in dual charge of director and music composer and therefore the perfect symphony was visible. other actors namely  Uday Lagoo, Rajesh Chitnis, Pradeep Joshi and Chandrashekhar Bhagwat also did flawless work.

Shital Talpade did astounding work in terms of creating the natural scenes of morning, evening from an inside view of a residential flat. The script was written by a seasoned writer Rajan Mohadikar, 

And the quintessential message was that a relationship of father and daughter lies deep in psychology and not necessarily in the biological fertilisation of molecules. Also, a live-in relation with some boyfriend can solve practical problems but how to deal with the emotional problems? The evocative power of the show must be praised.

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Review by- Hemant Das 'Him'
Send responses to - hemantdas2001@gmail.com
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