King of Spades

As the classical Bollywood number goes ,” Ae dil hai mushkil jeena yahan, zara hatke zara bach ke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan!” While it is still the city of aspiration and dreams, majorly due to Bollywood , once you land up the problems of this metropolis hit you. Bad roads, Noise, Water/Electricity problems, Neighbours who behave like strangers etc are just a few ones that the hustle bustle of the city hides behind its glowing lights. Whether you own a house or are a tenant, the experience or rather exposure to the crumbling infrastructure of the city sucks you in. Yet ask any true blue Mumbaikar and the response will be” Mumbai jaisi koi jagah nahi hai Boss!. Mein toh yahi settle hoga. Iss city   mein kuch toh baat hai!” This is exactly the Dna of Balwinder Siddhu aka Bubbles( Rajit Kapur).  A financial executive who has poured out his life’s savings into an upper rise in Mumbai. Giving him company is his parsi wife Behruz (Shernaz Patel). In spite of living in a fa...

Had heard quite a lot about this play Massage. Besides being in the running for quite a few years now, what intrigued me was the concept of one guy playing plays 24 characters. The main protagonist was essayed by Rakesh Bedi, who is more known for his comic roles in Bollywood, but has more to him that just comedy. This play is a testimonial to that.  A seasoned actor in a play written by a seasoned playwright Vijay Tendulkar is a double whammy for any theatre lover. Had missed watching it on a couple of occasions earlier, hence this Sunday when I got to know that Massage was to be staged in Matunga, booked it at the first go. The play essentially is about the struggle that lakhs of Indians face when they come to the dream city of Mumbai, lured by the prospect of becoming a Bollywood star. Happy Singh as the name suggests is a happy go lucky guy who comes to Mumbai to chase his dreams of becoming an actor. Starts his struggle with an internship as the 4 th  assistant dire...

Girish Karnad’s Wedding Album was playing in Prithvi Theater the other night. There was a lot of buzz surrounding it, considering the cast and the writer in question. Hence decided to give it a shot and that too on a Saturday night, when a shot usually means getting something that lifts your spirits! The play started off promising to be something different, especially with the treatment of the typical pixilated video call by Vidu (Ira Dubey) to her prospective husband Ashwin, who is settled in US and yet wants an Indian bride. The storyline centers around the incidents that happen within the Konkani family, around the impending wedding of their daughter. Vidu’s family consists of her retired father, mom, her elder sister Hema (married and settled in Australia, flown down for the wedding leaving her husband and two kids behind), her brother Rohit (the breadwinner and also a prospective bridegroom) and their maid Radhabai. So the stage looked set for some fun, drama and other things ...

Am writing this article with a premise that all of us know Ramayana- the story of prince Ram. If not, kindly buy a book or rent the entire DVD collection of Ramanand Sagar’s epic serial –Ramayan, which is how most of India learnt about it! The Ramayana play is staged during the Navratri festival leading upto Vijayadashmi, the day when Lord Ram killed Ravan and avenged the abduction of his wife Sita. Ramleela is the name given to the play format that is staged during the festival every year, more so in North India. It’s become more like a tradition that has to be followed come what may. However what makes it interesting is the drama that is usually associated with its casting and the eventual screening. Today people have lost the interest in it, given mythology is uncool for the youth. Most stage actors, given the pittance of the sum they receive as remuneration for their performances don’t really care. Also women do not participate in such plays given the stigma associated with femal...

Sex-Among the favourite Human Pastimes. Morality-To each, his own definition. Censorship-Something we all love to rebel against, in all walks of life. Now when one has all these three words as a single title, it is bound to catch your attention and that’s exactly what happened! Surfing through the papers on a lazy Sunday morning, i noticed this interesting title. What followed was a quick online booking of tickets and me and my friend were well on our way to this play at Prithvi. On entering the first thing that strikes you is the nicely decorated set using light bulbs that add their own rustic charm to the stage . The play starts off as a dialogue between a Tamasha artist and a Shahir both facing the onslaught of the so called cultural censorship of their trade. They are soon joined by a historian who supports the Shahir in taking the Tamasha artist and with her, the audience through the play of Sakharam Binder.Sakharam Binder was a play written by the late Vijay Tendulkar in 1...