Month: January 2020

Class of ’84

The play is about a group of eight friends who graduated in 1984, who drifted apart over the years. Seven of the group finally are together today, at the funeral of their friend Jojo. Jojo was the soul and leader of the group in their college days. He arranged protests, was involved in social causes and stood up for their friends. The seven characters portray various sections of the society – Sanjay – a wealthy MNC banker, Raveena – a housewife, Raghu – regional filmmaker, Sarah – a Page 3 journalist, Fuzzy – Spritiual Vaastu Expert, Cyrus – a rich Parsi, and Bobby (Rajit Kapur) – a TV Actor. The over-night discussion at Sanjay’s holiday home uncovers the plot and several secrets of their own. Jojo’s death, and his last years, however, remain mystery to all.

The play is directed well and the acts flow smoothly. the actors are veteran, and having completed 1000+ shows now, deliver the play with ease. The set is simply designed, as Sanjay’s holiday home, and also reminisce of college benches in parts.

It is one of the most popular plays around – the play has completed 1000+ shows and is running strong for many years now. But as you might agree, the most popular things need not be the best. And this holds for this play as well – the play is decent watch at best. The play’s popularity and the acceptance is supported by simplicity of the play and in parts, the connect with the audience who may reminisce about the college days and groups at moments.

AglaPlay Verdict: A decent play
AglaPlay Rating: 3/5
Language: English
Duration: 1 Hour 30 minutes+ (Approx.)
Writer:  Rahul da Cunha 
Director:  Rahul da Cunha
Cast: Rajit Kapur,
Shernaz Patel, Rituraj,
Radhika da Cunha, Zafar,
Sohrab A, Joy and
Dipika Roy.

Below are few relevant links. 

Writer's Perspective on the Play

Rashmirathi

Written by Padma Bhushan awardee Shri Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, the epic describes key events of Mahabharata through the character of Karna, the Rashmirathi. First-born of Kunti, Karna was the strongest and bravest among all the warriors. Also, in my opinion, the most ideal among all the characters in Mahabharata. He suffers through his life and dies, for no fault of his. Born out of wedlock, he is disowned by his mother shortly after his birth. His teacher curses him because of his caste. Lord Krishna himself cheats him to ensure victory of Pandavas. He is killed unarmed by arrows of his own brother, Arjuna. His perspective is unique, raises several moral questions, all written in beautiful spirited words of Shri Dinkar.

Original work is mesmerizing and enthralling, and I will strongly recommend the readers to read the original, whether or not they watch this play. It would be better, though if one reads the original work before this play. The words cut through the ears to impact the soul of the readers. It is simply amazing.

What is even more amazing if the portrayal of Karna by Imraan Khan. The energy that Imraan puts into the character is astonishing, borderline psychedelic. The diction is flawless. In fact, I wonder if anyone else could have delivered the central character of with such authority as Imraan has done. It is absolutely real real tough for someone to remember such long poems, and then, recite them with such clarity. The performance was simply stellar! Other characters are also done their part well, the stage is decorated aptly. The dress designing is particularly good work.

The play is a must must watch, if you understand Hindi. The performances are not very frequent, hence I will request the readers to book tickets as soon as they get a chance.

AglaPlay Verdict: A must watch. Do NOT miss!
AglaPlay Rating: 4.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: 1 Hour 30 Minutes 
Writer: Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
Director:  Mujeeb Khan
Cast: Imraan Khan (Karna)
& Others

Below are few relevant links

Other Links
Candid Interview of Imraan Khan
Rashmirathi Original Text
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Wikipedia Page

Hamlet – The Clown Prince

This is another play in the series of clown plays written and directed by Rajat Kapoor. The play involves clowns who are planning to perform the play Hamlet. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of his most renowned works, which is intricate, long and tragic. Our cute, lovely clowns fight over the casting, and end up misinterpreting the original Hamlet. The dialogues are funny, filled with contemporary references.

The play is must watch and wholly entertaining. The character of Clown Claudius in particular gets the best moments and was portrayed very well. The setup, and the flow of the play is impeccable as expected from Rajat Kapoor.

Two words of caution though – 1) please read a summary or the story of the original play. While the original’s key themes of murder, procrastination and revenge are retained, parts of this play may not be fully enjoyed if you do not know the original. 2) Many dialogues, particularly the start is in pure Gibberish. They are NOT meant to be understood. So don’t worry if you don’t catch a few sentences here and there.

On these two fronts, the play also deviates from others of Rajat’s plays where the story is either summarized at one point or the other, or is not much relevant to the understanding of the play. Also, Gibberish is contained in very brief portions of the other presentations unlike in this one.

AglaPlay Verdict: Must Watch
AglaPlay Rating: 4/5
Language: English, Gibberish
Duration: 1 Hour 30 minutes (Approx.)
Writer:  Rajat Kapoor 
Inspired from: Shakespeare / Hamlet
Director: Rajat Kapoor
Cast: Vinay Pathak,
Kalki Kochelin & Others

Below are few relevant links. 

Behind the scenes
A collation of the Reviews
Complete Play [Original]
Original play summary