Of life and life partners
"Meri Life Me Uski Wife"... all about give and take. — Pic. by S. R. Raghunathan
WHAT ARE the ingredients that go into a happy married life? If one were to superficially analyse the points required for the smooth run after tying the knot, it is by and large the understanding of each others' interests, and the cultivating of a spacious give-and-take frame of mind. Structured on these lines was the Hindi play "Meri Life Me Uski Wife" of Sunshine Productions, directed by Aliraza Namdar.
The play, brought to Chennai by the Madras South Round Table 39 recently, was to raise funds for their ongoing charity projects that include providing facilities to educate one million children, building classrooms for primary schools and reconstructing buildings in tsunami affected areas in the State.
"All 10 characters of the play are portrayed like different paintings of an artist," said the publicity folder of the play, which featured some known faces from popular Hindi serials. The figurative comparisons with the prolific brush notwithstanding, although the 10 characters portrayed diverse personalities, they did not make a headway in mirroring the central idea. Perhaps, every role had too much dialogue , and the clarity and punch got lost somewhere in the noise and clutter of the fast-paced delivery. The packed audience at Kamaraj Arangam got restless, what with the mikes too playing spoil-sport at the beginning, when the play depended more on verbal exchanges than on action.
The crowd however was in splits later when the dialogue had references to Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi, and on the bachelor status of our President and former Prime Minister. All the dance sequences received thunderous applause.
With Seema Kapoor (of `Gharwali Uparwali' on STAR Plus) and Vaquar Sheikh (of `Saara Aakash' on STAR) as anchors — who extended their roles much farther to form the links in the storyline — the play revolved round four bachelors who dream of prospective brides and fantasise to suit their tastes. As each finds his dream girl and is ecstatic in the seemingly colourful phase of wedlock, their newfound world of romanticism crumbles when the nitty-gritty of practicalities surface. Every difference of opinion leads to unpleasant arguments. If one is not ready to accept his wife's traditional stance, the other is peeved at her disregard for elders, another at her poor cooking skills and the fourth at the disrespect and contempt she has for her uneducated spouse.
The larger part of the play shows the growing divide amongst them. Soon the line shrinks too, but not before umpteen permutations and combinations of living styles are tried out for compromise ... only to reiterate that nothing in life can be tailor-made, least of all life-partners.
RANJANI GOVIND
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