Nothing Like Lear- Review of the Play

 Rajat Kapoor has directed Vinay Pathak in this solo act, which was staged at Pune recently. I caught it, and was pleasantly surprised to see the Director greeting us at the exit. Shook hands, and told him it was very good. You may recognise the names as actors from Bheja Fry, a few years ago.

This was delightful, and covered a lot of ground. Interactive, with a few jokes directed at the interactive audience as well. Pathos, comedy, tragedy, and great solo acting, in a clown's costume. Reminded me of Mera Naam Joker. 

Holding people for more than 90 minutes itself is huge, in my view. I have seen Naseeruddin Shah and Arundhati Nag do it, so it's not impossible, but it's tough.

The accent he used is typical Bambaiya, with a touch of the Bandra crowd, which the Mumbai crowd will identify with. But a must-watch for theatre lovers.

Meeting an Ex Student

 Usually, I am not very talkative. But in the right company, I can hold a long conversation. Happened again in the company of my friend Swati Jain, ex-IMT Nagpur. Met and discussed all topics under the Sun that one can, our lives, and work included. Sherlock Holmes and Korean serials were some that I remember. Her batchmates including her roomie Aditi Atre too, and others like Ishita Modi, Pushpinder, Jaya Dulani Sardana and others. And Dance classes, Palmistry, Astrology, Goa trips, Bhopal (she's from there), Alumni meets, Professors of Finance, Jain food etc.. This was only our second meeting, but did not feel that way..

Sankranti Outing

 With Prestige University colleagues at Shreemaya. Celebrated with great food and conversation- 

Celebrations

 What is a celebration? A moment in time that we think is special in some way- a birthday, an anniversary, a new job, start of a new year, and so on.

Pic- On our way to see Orchha sights, from our Riverside Resort. (Betwa river)

But isn't there something good happening every day? For instance, you ate something nice, a kid smiled at you for no reason, or you did something right. Or, your Boss praised you (OK, that's rare, forget that!).

So why don't we cut a cake or eat a poha or a dhokla- what you eat/cut is immaterial here) every day?

Because we feel that we are living a mundane life. The truth is, it's anything but mundane. At least in my experience, there are 5 or 10 things that are unique, happening to us every day. If I try listing some of them, it'll turn into an essay that's too long to read at one sitting. But just an example-

Take an academic setting, from a student's point of view. Meeting your classmates, learning something new from a class (I was going to say Teacher), or a book you found in a library (what's that?) or a conversation with anyone, planning for an event, a case study discussion that surprised you, are just a few things that can happen in a single day. 

So it is with life elsewhere. It throws up surprises, many of them good. So each day might be worth celebrating, barring very few.

Purush- A play in Marathi

 Written by Jaywant Dalvi, a revival of this play is on in Pune.

A powerful indictment of the way a woman is treated in our society by the powerful patriarchy. It has a lot of messages about politics, corruption in public life, the susceptible judiciary, and so on.

The story unfolds through an upright social worker, whose daughter is in love with a low caste revolutionary. But when push comes to shove, he and most others turn their back on her. Desperate for revenge and to teach a powerful man a lesson, she takes the law into her own hands, after the justice system fails her.

A lot of twists in the plot and good dialogue, acting keep you engrossed. It's a social statement within a play. Actors including Spruha Joshi playing the young girl excel.

Book Review of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

 Brilliant material for a play. I first saw the movie, and by chance, found the book last week. The movie was very good, starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (he was a prof.). The play is of course the raw material, and is worth a read.

The whole story unfolds in the home of the couple, where another young couple (a professor and his wife) are invited to get to know each other. And they get personal, and skeletons tumble out, one by one. Of ambition, or lack of it, and extra-marital flings by the professor's wife, and a gold-digger (the younger husband).

By the way, the play has nothing to do with Virginia Woolf, the author. Just a song the characters sing.. that says, Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Book Review of Amol Palekar's Memoirs

 It's called Viewfinder in English. I read the Marathi version.

It has a lot of content that I was not aware of. I liked it for its personal tone and insights into how theatre works in Marathi and Hindi at least. Both mainstream and parallel categories. He also interacted with Bengali playwrights, and directed Badal Sircar's plays like Juloos. 

He has a soft corner for Jaidev, who scored music for Gharonda and Ankahee (he also co-produced this with Jayant Dharmadhikari, my BIL). 

His attempts to get out of the boy next door characters in Hindi films, and attempts to make films about taboo topics including LGBT starring subjects gets a mention. Also how Nana Patekar got after him for that role in Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaayen. And did it so well!

Hrishikesh Mukherjee (Gol Maal, Naram Garam) and he shared a bond. And of course, Basu Chatterjee, who gave him 3 hits in a row- Rajnigandha, Chhoti si Baat and Chitchor.

Those who like theatre, and his kind of films will enjoy this memoir.