King of Spades

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...

The Tiatr setting Loretta. The papers described it as a goan play based on the popular Tiatr form. Ab Theatre toh suna tha, but yeh ‘Theater mein Tiatr’ pehli baar sun raha tha. Googled  and found out that this Tiatr is a type of musical theatre popular in the state of Goa since colonial days, the  language mainly being Konkani. The drama consists of 6 or 7 acts called pordhe . The acts are interspersed by songs which need not be directly linked to the content or the issues of the main drama. There are 2 or 3 songs between each of the acts. In case you find that too much to comprehend, guess for the lesser mortals one can say,these are like Nautanki fillers! Short and maybe not so sweet for some but definitely effective! Goa, with its free flowing culture and charm, always  lifts up your spirit in more ways than one. Now a goan charm combined with this folk or Tiatr style of storytelling, was a potent cocktail. So decided to give it a shot over the weekend. Now a sh...

Whenever you think of some of the best action and thrilling sequences that Hollywood has produced, the Mission Impossible (MI) series ranks right on top of your mind. Yes we do have the Bond, Bourne and Arnie movies, but the sheer consistency of MI when it comes to showcasing death defying concepts/stunts is something admirable. The 5th part of the installment just takes this to the next level. Within the first few minutes of the movie, when you see Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt) hanging on to dear life outside an airplane- a massive A 400, you know you are in take-off mode for a pure adrenaline rush. The plot is more or less what MI fans would usually expect. As it is, most logic goes for a toss because the fans of this franchisee are more pleased by death defying stunts than logic. IMF (Impossible Mission Force) is virtually disbanded as a unit and their main agent Ethan Hunt is on the run. His ex- colleagues are now a part of the CIA.  Ethan’s objective is to disband a syndicate tha...

“Dost, chaar small dena”! In any other situation this would have sounded like an order at a bar counter but here we were finally, after braving the horrible traffic of a typical Mumbai evening, at the booking window of Prithvi Theater,Juhu. Chaar Small by T-Pot productions was playing that evening. A collection of 4 short stories centered around a bar is what one could guess, from the poster displayed outside the venue. The humour was served right on toast by the cast, with an introductory aarti asking the viewers to put their phones on silent!  Pretty innovative I thought. The lighting, set, innovative posters (one to back the above aarti), a superb live band etc just created the perfect ambience for the spirits to soar further! Once the stories/acts start spanning out one after the other, you realize that the common link in all of these is not the bar but it is the city of Mumbai. The city of aspirations and thus migrations, underlying issues and yes humanity or what is famous...

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...

The main difference between humans and animals is the presence of brain or rather our ability to use it. And what governs our brain or headquarters are emotions. They play a very major role in how we feel, what we do, how we respond to situations/people etc.  Any significant experience in our daily lives, triggered by these emotions, usually gets registered in us as a long term memory. These could be related to something that’s happened around a place or a person. And whenever one gets into a similar zone, these memories resurface and with them the emotions too. Which is precisely the reason why we gel with certain people or like certain kind of food/cuisine or places . And when it comes to a different kind, we just cannot stand them .They leave us with emotions like disgust, anger, sorrow and sometimes even fear . The other kind makes us feel wanted, happy. They bring in the everlasting emotion of joy into our lives thereby creating a strong mutual bond. This bond is what we id...

Macbeth-Maqbool Othello-Omkara Hamlet-Haider 3 indianised  takes by Vishal Bharadwaj  on the respective legendary works of William Shakespeare. The first time he attempted , the second time he re-created .But this time around, he not only does the above two but also succeeds in perfectly indianising miya Shaik peer. It’s ironical that the co-writer of Haider ( along with Vishal Bharadwaj) is a certain Mr. Basharat Peer! Reincarnation anybody? Seems unlikely given his credentials.Well we’ll leave that to some other blog. Set in tumultuous Kashmir, the state of India where god created heaven and man hell, Haider grips your attention right from the start.  Dr. Hilal Meer (Haider’s father) is taken away by the army for treating and sheltering a militant inspite of the prevailing insurgency.  Ghazala (Tabu) ,his wife takes refuge in the arms of his brother Khurram Meer (Kay Kay Menon) and that’s when the boy suspects a rat. Enter Roohdaar (Irrfan khan ) and the ...

Sometimes in the midst of commercial potboilers and movies made for critical acclaim, comes a Kahaani or Script that takes in the nuances and mixes sensibilities of both worlds. That’s when it stands apart from the routine and leaves an impression on you. You come out refreshed post the movie having seen something new. And Dawat-E-Ishq just does that. Here the central subject revolves around the unfortunate and grim-Dowry system in India. A well guarded secret in most Indian families.  Mostly observed in arranged marriages amongst families, who themselves are the initiators of the match! This is one evil in our society that has withstood the test of time and is deeply entrenched across all earning classes. Even literacy has done little to eradicate this evil mindset. All it has managed is change it to more ‘polished ’ words like gift or help. Doesn’t matter what achievements the girl has, what background she comes from. Her personality is too meager a point to even consider. ...

Talking apes effectively led by a leader who commands utmost respect. Humans who seek their help to reclaim their life. Sounds familiar? Well the sage Valmiki explored a similar legendary storyline thousands of years ago,which in India till today is a revered epic called the Ramayana.The movie- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,once again explores the beautiful bond that two of the most powerful thinking species known to our Planet,shared once.The bond of solidarity between the primate and the evolved of the species, against the advent of time for the survival for the fittest is beautifully brought to life in this movie. ‘Ape do not kill Ape! Because we are not like human’. This was the belief that shaped the previous- Rise of the planet of the apes.This thought was the foundation on which Caesar founded his dream and established his empire, his Home! Rise of the planet of the apes was a brilliant film to follow and Dawn nearly manages to do full justice to that,the only minor drawback ...

“Gujju Porn hai yeh …ekdum GUJUU PORN”!  “kaun dekhega, chod yaar. Boring picture che . Let’s do something else". Came the usual set of replies when I asked people about the most anticipated bollywood movie release this season- RamLeela. Well there was definitely something amiss admist all this. After all the movie looked to have all the perfect ingredients:-   Script adaptation of the evergreen tragedy Romeo-Juliet. Usually one’s first read.  And bollywood’s tried& tested success formula-Love tragedy. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, a filmmaker known for treating every frame like a canvas. And this time after making black and blue experiments he was back in multicolour!   The songs, sets, their beautiful picturisation and… Actress of the year -Deepika Padukone. well she seems to redefine beauty in every movie she acts these days. So with all these and especially the last point in particular, i made up my mind to give it a shot. It was anyways a lazy Sunday af...

Life of Pi released in theatres a couple of days back. It is based on a book of the same name by Yann Martel. The experience of reading a book can never be compared to watching a movie. Personally feel one must not compare but enjoy both experiences. Know many book lovers who never watch on –screen adaptations since they feel movies hardly justify the books they are based on, case in point- The Da Vinci code. However even though i am an avid reader myself, guess whenever a movie is based on a book, it just makes me more curious to see how it has been interpreted on-screen. How the director has bought to life the different scenes that we usually imagine while reading a book. It is not easy to match everyone’s imagination and portray it alive on-screen. Which is why making a story come alive on –screen when most people have read it, is all the more challenging i believe. And this is where Life of Pi scores. I had not read the book, so just went without any background or inhibition...

  The truth about the Dark knight is that he can take the blame… The truth about the Dark knight is that he can live in pain... The truth unveiled in theaters last Friday and has got me wanting to see it again!. Had huge expectations out of what was said to be the conclusion to the Batman trilogy. Perhaps similar to the expectations of the people of Gotham from Batman! The movie not only matched but went on to surpass it. This Dark Knight definitely rises and is mind-blowing to say the least! In the first one, fear made BruceWayne become the Batman… In the second, the Joker made Batman become the Dark Knight … But however in this conclusion to the trilogy, Batman overcomes his own fears to go beyond what he never did before and that’s what makes it a triumph of hope and human spirit. A narration of strong emotions where a man, not born super puts his mind over matter and rises to the occasion to conclude what is the best of the series so far.  Near-epic! ...

A simple heart-warming emotion is often the toughest to portray on-screen. Whether it was the carrom board shot in Munnabhai to revive the old man or the lie that Rancho narrates to make his friend speak in 3 Idiots, the scenes ended on a happier note with a feel good factor. The difference in Ferrari ki Sawaari is that the emotion stays on… case in point the scene in which Rustom, played by Sharman Joshi, goes to a bank to ask for a loan for his son. The simplicity of the character and his endearing emotion as a doting father lingers on even after the scene ends. It does not translate into a happier moment and that’s what makes Ferrari ki Sawari a common man’s story. Wouldn’t agree much or comment on the Parsi angle since am yet to meet a single parsi who is in need of a loan in the first place! The plot: Rustom (Sharman Joshi) plays a common man aka Raja Harishchandra and a doting father to his son Kayo. As the head clerk of the RTO, his income is less but that does not stop ...

7 Khoon Maaf----This was one of the most awaited films of the year and why not! Priyanka Chopra is among the leading actresses today in Bollywood and the director Vishal Bharadwaj has his own reputation of making unconventional subjects into a commercial success. Add to that the peepy soundtrack and the intriguing trailors and people were all geared up to watch this movie. The release date was also ironical – around Valentines---Daaarling! I too wanted to catch the film during the opening weekend but then couldn’t do so, due to other commitments. Just saw it the other day a well one month after release, but then guess by then 8th (aathva) khoon ho chukka tha! What reviews man and what negative publicity for the film. People just went overboard. FaceBook status messages, word of mouth ,Tweets all came heavy on this one. From messages like “7 khoon bilkul maaf nahi” ….to “Mera khoon ho gaya!!!” , the criticism of this film was everywhere on social media. This actuall...

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...