Tula Mi , Mala Mi....

Today was the concluding day of the "Kala Rang" festival which is held in Margao every year. The organisers always succeed in getting the best talent from across India to Goa, and I'm thankful and glad for all the work they do!

This year saw performances by Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia, a beautiful Bharatnatyam performance by my guru- Lalan desai and Alka Lajmi, The play White Lily and Night Rider and Rima Lagoo's "Tula Mi , Mala Mi".


Today's play again was a masterpiece! Here are the synopsis:

Madhavi Rajadhyaksha, a college professor teaching English Literature, occasionally pens short stories in Marathi. One fine day she releases a book penned in English. The book gains international recognition. It becomes a bestseller. Madhavi receives such significant remuneration that she resigns from her job. This invites accusations that Madhavi has written the book in English with the sole intention of acquiring maximum royalty. She is also accused of exploiting her sister’s illness and her own husband's marital problems in order to increase the book sales. A Marathi movie based on Madhavi's book is produced. A leading television channel invites her to speak. What will happen when Madhavi begins to confront the accusations leveled against her?

Details of the play:

TULA MI MALA MI is the Marathi adaptation of eminent playwright Girish Karnad's original Kannad play. The play has already been produced in Hindi (BIKHRE BIMB) and in English (BROKEN IMAGES). The Marathi version has been produced by O Rima Creations and has already seven shows to its credit. The Marathi adaptation, direction and music have been done by Vivek Lagoo with technical assistance from Samir Lamaye and special contribution from Shekhar Dhavlikar.

My views:

There's just 1 person on stage with her 2 images- 1 her real self and the other that we see on a TV screen on the stage! The whole play is about Madhavi, the writer talking to herself who appears on the TV screen.

As the play unfolds we come to know about Madhavi's real story! The interview that she gives to the TV channel shows her to be a happily married writer, who writes a book based on her paralysed sister.


There are several accusations levelled against her - about a marathi writer, coming out with a book in English which goes on to become a best seller., about writing about sexuality etc. But this is just the tip of the ice berg.

As the story unfolds we realise that Madhavi actually never wrote the book! We realise that the book was originally written by her ailing sister Mukta , who is much more intelligent and beautiful but Paralysed. in the final 6 years of her life, Mukta stays in Madhavi's home. Madhavi's husband Pramod and Mukta are deeply involved and the entire book is actually a true story written with explicit details in dialogues and their complex triangle of relationships!

Reema Lagoo, no doubt has done an excellent job! It is not easy to time the performance according to the pre recorded herself talking to her from the TV.

Rating: A must watch, A different kind of play!
Hats off to Mr.Girish Karnad for writing such a beautiful script!

White Lily and The Night Rider

I am very fond of theatre. The unfortunate part is ,I've hardly seen any good dramas now a days! Comedy ki to baat hi chodo! There are so many "so called comedy" marathi plays , but when you are watching them, you wonder whether you are supposed to laugh at all? They are that pathetic! With the actors making weird faces, and body postures that are best described as vulgar! What happened to genuine comedy? genuine theatre?

Yesterday I came across a genuine piece of art' The play named " White Lily and The Night Rider".

There are only 2 main artists- RASIKA JOSHI, and MILIND PHATAK .


Synopsis:


“White Lily & Night Rider” is the contemporary play - a black comedy - of a man & a woman in their 40’s. They are very close Chat Friends involved even in erotic chat. At one point of time they desperately want to meet each other to transform that virtual reality in to reality and may take the decision of marriage.

But when they meet person to person the showdown begins. Any known system of man – woman relationship is unacceptable to them. Neither can they accept the “Sanskars” of the previous generation, nor can they adjust to the thinking of the new generation! For them marriage as an institution is outdated and live in relationship is unthinkable!!


The play raises innumerable questions and confusions about the fundamentals of the relationship & companionship. Does this confusion end with self realization? Are they afraid of reality? Is the virtual reality more comfortable??



My Views on the play:

It is a must watch! The play endes with both the parties deciding that their relationship is at the best in the virtual world! The play is very much realistic. It brings to light how our society treats a 36 year old unmarried girl! How unsafe the world has become to women- you cannot trust anybody, and trusting an internet pal? That's the most dangerous thing to do!

It also shows in a way that there are no guarantees in life- marriage is a gamble and no matter how many precautions you take- something always happens, which you didnt expect it to happen. People who keep checking for a companion's compatibility with each other- whether sexual, mental etc. are missing the whole point.......the fun part of marriage is to get to know another person, where is the fun if you are looking out for your duplicate? As the age factor starts rising, you become less and less willing to change and to accept people as they are.

Every person can relate to this play differently and it succeeds in touching the soul of every generation!

This play is intellectual,funny and different- it is a mixture rare to find, so if it is being performed in your city, dont miss it!

You can contact the makers of this play on :http://whitelilyandnightrider.blogspot.com