Marathi theatre is back
C. SURESH KUMAR
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Despite a few blemishes, `Tujhe Aahe Tuj Paashi' manages to strike a chord.
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REGIONAL FARE A scene from the play.
Of late, Marathi plays and music concerts held in Hyderabad promise the revival of Marathi theatre by Maharastrians who've settled here over the years.
Kalabhishek Parivar presented a Marathi play titled Tujhe Aahe Tuj Paashi, written by Marathi theatre artiste, writer and actor late P.L. Deshpande at the Sundarayya hall on November 5. It was a three-act play. Written in 1957, the play was well received then for its humour and message.
The play revolves around a reputed family; in fact, the area is named after their forefathers. Usha, the daughter of the family, gives spiritual discourses and is the secretary of a spiritual organisation.
A swamiji called Acharya is invited by the organisation to deliver discourses. He stays at Usha's house with his young disciple Geeta, orphaned at a young age and brought up by the Acharya.
Shyam, the young engineer in the house falls in love with Geeta, decides to discontinue his education and follow the Acharya and his teachings so that he can be with her. The young girl hasn't seen the world outside spiritual teachings and is thrilled to watch a movie or eat ice creams; she is however constrained at the thought of invoking the wrath of the Acharya. At the same time, Usha also realises that she needs to break away from the spiritual aspirations and settle down in life with the doctor who has been wooing her for long.
On learning the wishes of his disciple, the Acharya is annoyed initially but later moved by her devotion, leaves her behind in the house and goes alone to his ashram.
The play was slow paced as it is set in the 1950s. The play's tempo was further slackened owing to the slow dialogue delivery of the actors who seemed stage conscious.
There are a few lapses too. Though the play pertained to 1957, the doctor wears the latest sports shoes. Likewise, the gardener wears spotlessly clean clothes though he mentions he was tending the plants when he was called in. The Acharya looked too young and was not convincing in looks as a spiritual guru.
The actors did justice to their roles. Prajakta who played the role of Geeta was at her best. Her dialogues and expressions were applauded, however, she needs to put in extra effort since her voice is not audible in some portions.
Yashwant Gharipurikar played the role of Kakaji, Saurab Gharipurkar as Acharya, Sunil Chandurkar as Shyam, Prajakta as Geeta, Rupesh as Dr. Satish, Supriya Agashe as Usha were the main characters. Amit thakkar, Rahul Kulkarni, Vikram Kajale, Vaishali Deo, Archana Phadke and Anjali Karmarkar were the other artistes.
The stage settings by Nivedita Patwardhan, Kasturi Deodhar and Mrunal Deo were good and the play was directed by Prakash Phadnis.
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