The Father

Originally a French play written by Florian Zeller, The Father explores the challenges of Andre, the central character who is suffering from amnesia. Andre’s nurses repeatedly quit job due to his tantrums. His caring daughter, Ann, then takes Andre to her home where she lives with her husband, Pierre. Told from Andre’s perspective, different scenes flow through the times, jumping in the past and back as Andre remembers and forgets his life events. The play culminates to a shocking end.

The Stage setup is very innovative. The design of an apartment / hospital is marked on the ground with white paper tapes on which the actors perform. The audiences are very close to the performance and sitting is done in 360º view. The sync of the sound of taps etc is done very well. The experience of watching the play in such a setup is a novelty and done very nicely. Naseeruddin shah plays the central character with perfection and such energy that moves the audience. The rest of the cast matches his vigor.

It is a play well-done on all fronts. Strongly recommend for all audience.

AglaPlay Verdict: Strongly recommended for all
AglaPlay Rating: 4/5
Language: English
Duration: 2 Hours 
Writer: Florian Zeller
Director: Naseeruddin Shah
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah (Andre, The Father),
Ratna Pathak Shah, 
Heeba Shah & Others.

Below are a few relevant links.

Other Links
Naseeruddin Shah Wiki
Ratna Pathak Wikipedia

Gauhar

The biographical musical play is about the life of Gauhar Jaan, one of the first Indian performers to record music on Gramophone. Her life was adorned with professional achievements, and also scarred with repeated deceits by the people she trusted. The play answers many questions which may seem confounding to the TikTok/YouTube generation where recording and streaming is the norm. What was so special in being the first recorded female singer? The play not only takes the audience to the street of Calcutta where she was celebrated, but also inside her heart which was repeatedly cheated by everyone she trusted.

It is a great play and talks volumes of the capabilities of the director Lillette Dubey. The live performances – live singing by Zila Khan and the dance by Rajeshwari Sachdev, the music – themselves are worth of the ticket prices. The amazing portrayal by Rajeshwari (young Gauhar) and Zila Khan (old Gauhar) are powerful and memorable. Rajeshwari, who also gets the most opportunity among all the actors, shines in her role. The setup is also done well.

Talking of biographies, Bollywood styled masala-added bio-portrayals mutate the original lives so much that the end-product is pure fiction. This play steers clear of that crime, and suffers partly because of it. You see, like any other true biography and anyone’s life, the play has its dull moments. After all, in our like also we don’t achieve one milestone after another every year or every month!

The slow-paced, honest portrayal with great live performances is a must-watch for connoisseurs and theater enthusiasts. For others, please take note of the last paragraph.

AglaPlay Verdict: A must-watch for  connoisseurs and theater enthusiasts
AglaPlay Rating: 3.5/5
Language: Hindi / Urdu
Duration: 2 Hours+ 
Writer: Mahesh Dattani 
Director: Lillete Dubey
Cast: Zila Khan (Old Gauhar),
Rajeshwari Sachdev (Gauhar)
& Others

Below are a few relevant links.

Other Links
Trailer at YouTube 
Gauhar Jaan Wikipedia
Review at IndiaWest

Shabd Leela

An experimental venture, this presentation is part biography, part tribute to award winning novelist, poet and playwright Dr. Dharamvir Bharti. First half is an impactful reading of the extracts from ‘Ek Sahityik Ke Prem Patra’ a personal collection of letters between him and his wife. These letters, written in chaste Hindi, takes the audience to the life of Kanta, Pushpa and Dharamvir. The second section has performances from extracts of his works ‘Andha Yug’ and ‘Kanupriya’.

This is an absolute masterpiece on several fronts. The research, the narration, the performances are all top-notch. Luckily for us, Ms. Pushpa Bharti was also with us as audience that night and her praises for the research done for the play knew no bounds. On performance front, Ila Arun’s take on Gandhari is something that audience will not forget for long time to come! One can buy the ticket solely for her portrayal of Gandhari, such is the act! Rajeshwari, Varun and K K Raina also suited their roles to the perfection.

An amazingly researched piece, this falls short from being a must watch for regular audience on two fronts. First, the language – the Hindi used is in pure definitive form, which at times became tough to understand for me as well (I am a regular Hindi reader and still continue to grab a Hindi novel once in a while). Secondly, the pre-interval part with the letter narration seems dragging a bit. What also disappoints a bit is that (unlike Ek Mulaqat where Dipti and Shekhar memorize all words and dialogues), Ila and Varun read the letters on the stage from printout/notes.

Overall, it is a must-watch for the fans of Dharamvir Bharti ji, but the audience with challenges in understanding Hindi can find it little tough to understand the performance (first half in particular).

AglaPlay Verdict: A must watch for Dharamvir Bharti's fans
AglaPlay Rating: 3.5/5
Language: Pure Hindi
Duration: 2 Hours
Writer: Ila Arun 
Director: K. K. Raina
Cast: Ila Arun (Narrator / Gandhari), 
Rajeshwari Sachdev (Radha / Mrs. Bharti), 
Varun Badola, KK Raina, 
Abhishek Pandey

Below are a few relevant links.

Other Links
Full Performance on YouTube
Dharamvir Bharti Wikipedia
Ila Arun Wikipedia

Ek Mulaqat

The poetic play Ek Mulaqat (a rendezvous) explores relationship of two eminent authors of the era – Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi. The unrequited love is presented through a fictional meeting between Amrita and Sahir at the terrace. They discuss the unspent moment, the content of the letters and the many challenges on their ways to be together. This is a biographical play where the lives of the characters is dramatized and presented in theatrical presentation, with many poems orated through the performance.

The characterization is detailed and both Deepti and Shekhar complement each other. The oration of the poems and songs is done extremely well. Instead of the Bollywood and popular versions, the play sticks to the original Urdu versions, which is tough to understand at many times. I can only imagine how tough it would have been for the performers to by-heart and orate them live with such intensity and emotions! Knowing Shekhar Suman from ‘Dekh Bhai Dekh’ fame, it was a mesmerizing and captivating experience for me. Dipti Naval was as flawless as ever.

This is an extremely well done piece of art and must be watched by those who have liked the duo’s literary works. In addition to giving a glimpse into the lives of the famous duo, the play also provides a rare opportunity to see two brilliant actors orating the iconic lines. The play would also intrigue those who are interested in understanding and feeling the society at large of the era – a lot of research must have gone in bringing alive the lives of the legends and it shows through the play. The duo talks not only about unrequited love, but also about the inequalities, Indo-Pak partition, marriage and more. And most importantly, all of it comes together beautifully as a complete package!

AglaPlay Verdict: An amazing experience, laced with beautiful Urdu poetry
AglaPlay Rating: 4.5/5
Language: Hindi / Urdu
Duration: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Writer: Saif Hyder Hasan, Somana Ahmed 
Director: S H Hasan
Cast: Shekhar Suman (Sahir),
Deepti Naval (Amrita)

Below are a few relevant links.

Other Links
Amrita Pritam Wikipedia
Sahir Ludianvi Wikipedia
A good read on the play at HT
A take on duo's relation

Ek Haan

The play attempts to explore the philosophy and thoughts of the controversial author Saadat Hasan Manto, one of the most controversial Urdu writers. It is post-partition era and Saadat is living in Pakistan now. A journalist is visiting from India to interview Saadat. She is intrigued by same questions as are the readers. Who is Manto? Was Manto only interested in cheap publicity? Did Manto know any of his characters personally? Why he wrote such vulgar and unsettling stories? And, more… The play also has acts where two of Manto’s stories are performed – Toba Tek Singh and Kali Salwar, while a small scene plays short piece of another story, Thanda Gosht.

Like Ek Mulaqat, Shekhar Suman again delivers a flawless dialogue delivery with passionate performances – as Manto, as Toba Tek Singh and short-scene where a couple’s relation is mimicked. Suchitra is also good but the role of interviewer has nothing much to offer till the end. Her portrayal of Sultana is well done. Stage is setup in a room in Manto’s house and the right part of the stage (left section of the image) also doubled as Sultana’s house and, the Lahore mental hospital.

Unlike Ek Mulaqat though, Ek Haan does not connect audience to Manto. Manto and his though process still remain enigma to me, even after watching the play. The short stories are performed well, but add little to central premise of the play. I also could not find any supporting evidences of the last scene. [Disclaimer: I do NOT know EVERYTHING, and I may well be wrong].

Overall it is an average play with good execution. The lighting is spot-on and there is the grandeur to the play. The singing by Rekha Bhardwaj is good to ears. That said, there are much better (biographical) performances, like Jauhar, Shabdleela, Ek Mulaqat… which one can choose to watch over this.

AglaPlay Verdict: An average play with good execution
AglaPlay Rating: 3/5
Language: Hindi / Urdu / Punjabi
Duration: 1 Hour 30 Minutes (Approx., NO Interval)
Writer: Neha Kargeti 
Director: R R Roy
Cast: Shekhar Suman (Manto),
Suchitra Krishnamoorthi (Journalist),
Neha Kargeti (Anwari),
Amit Ghosh, Vikas Tiwari

Below are a few relevant links.

Other Links
Ek Haan Promo
Review at Mid-day
Manto Wikipedia