What does one do on an evening when most of the city is entranced by the antics of 22 men playing a game that has become an obsession with the population of 2 countries? Countries that usually are and have been at each other?s throats for the last 50 years and are now trying to bridge that chasm of hate with ?messengers of peace?. Well, I for one went and watched a play at Prithvi. Since this was one of my earliest wishes - have been waiting to watch a play at Prithvi since my first day in Mumbai - the evening was half a success even before the play began. Seeing Makarand Deshpande, Sonali Kulkarni, Rajendra Gupta and Anurag Kashyap up close was another bonus. So it was a little difficult to keep an objective mind through the performance. The distraction of the cricket match added its own bit to the general feeling, the feel-good factor following the win in the fourth match contributing to the warm glow I felt at the end of the evening. A day well spent, I said to myself.
As I sit back and think of the play now, the feeling is slightly mixed. Written and directed by Makarand Deshpande, the play explores, or at least attempts to explore the relationships between the 3 protagonists. More specifically, the love equations between these 3 are studied, analysed and evaluated. It?s a brave effort to understand love: what it is, why it is so complex, and how people react to it. Brave, and a little off-target, I felt.
Professor Palekar, or ?Sir?, is a lecturer/teacher/poet. His favorite students are Sarla, Fanidhar (Fani) and Sunil. The vivacious Sarla is the pet, and as often happens to the vivacious of this world, everyone falls in love with her, including the wise old professor. The attraction is mutual, and recognizing the futility of the situation, the prof arranges an ?appropriate? match for her - fellow student Sunil (played by Deshpande?s voice). This of course, is not good news to the less fortunate, less flamboyant, less ?promising? Fani.
The intensely passionate Fani smothers his feelings out of respect for his mentor. The wound festers, and for 5 years, lies just below the surface while Fani works on a project, ironically on the subject of love, under the guidance of the professor. The project acts as a catalyst in bring to surface emotions and conflicts between the duo - angst from the disciple, and acknowledgement of an impossible love from the master. The teacher reminisces with regret, the student with pathos. Interspersed with flashbacks from the past, the play tries to explore feelings, relationships, desires, in an ostensible attempt to define the vagaries of love.
What one comes out with from the play is that the essence of love lies in the fact that it defeats definition, and it cannot be controlled by the rationale of the most intelligent of human beings. Why do people fall in love? What is it about a person that drives the other to obsessive attention, undying affection and eventual hopelessness and despair? Why does love never die? At least never completely. What makes love so powerful that it challenges history, disregards time, wipes out distances, mocks death? I don?t know and neither does Deshpande, but this play was an attempt to understand the individual in the grips of this age-old disease.
A disease that enriches life the more it spreads. A love that never learns. Apt description I think. (Not my own, something I saw in one of the preview articles in a newspaper.) To the performances then, which were largely good. Rajendra Gupta is suitably upright and mature, not necessarily meaning that his character was mature in his actions. He thought them justified, yes, but he disregarded other emotions in trying to apply what he felt was the most appropriate solution in the context of things. His motives though could be read as attempts to appear as a martyr, and yet keep Sarla pining for him.
The young protégé doesn?t even come into the picture till he can no longer hold his frustration with the teacher, and explodes in a show of unrestrained rage. But more on that later. Sonali Kulkarni as Sarla is warm, bubbly, and full of life. Always a joy to watch, it?s amazing to see how well she adapts to this character, both as a fool in love with her professor, and as the wife who comes back to apprise the prof with her situation after marriage.
Makarand Deshpande?s voice does a good job too, though the character was overly demonized. Couldn?t the husband be a little let of an MCP? Could have made the play a bit more interesting. The star of the show though is Anurag Kashyap as the disturbed Fani. Not completely without reason too. His role is author backed, and has the sympathy of the playwright, but Kashyap does lend a certain charm and plausibility to the character. Not sure why it took 5 years for his feelings to become apparent, but then who?s to fault him for glitches in the plot? Would like to see more of him, and his films.
The only review I read on his ?Paanch? commended his efforts and intention, if not the final product. So he?s definitely one to watch out for in the future. I liked the play, but it wasn?t the best I?ll ever see. There are gaps in the story, and some major scenes are downplayed, like the infamous and oft-repeated one of the professor convincing Sarla to forget him and get married to someone else. Strange that such a pivotal scene would be left out. Instead the emphasis is placed on explosive dialog and spouting poetry where it wasn?t really called for.
Always thought Deshpande liked playing to the gallery, and some of his lines for Fani prove that he hasn?t lost his taste for playacting. Also, for a 3-character play, I?m not sure justice was done to all the players. It seemed like the story revolved around the unrequited lover, when it really should have been encompassing emotions from everyone.
I never really got the feeling that the professor had feelings other than the norm for Sarla, and never really felt her anguish, till the very last scenes. Anyways, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and I have you to thank largely for it, Mr. Deshpande. And so I do. Next time, I hope I can thank you for the brilliance of your play.