Salaam Noni Appa

Salutations to sister Noni! Noni, the central character of the play is a widow in her sixties or seventies. She is graceful, calm and composed. In her contrast, her sole companion and sister Binny is full of life and energetic. Binny chooses a new hobby to dabble in every other week, while Noni keeps to herself, spending evenings with scotch reminiscing old days when she felt complete with her husband. After much persuasion from Binny, Noni agrees to practicing Yoga where she meets Anand Ji, the yoga teacher. They become friends. Noni no longer feels alone as earlier. But what is society’s judgement? Is the society even correct in its judgement? Anand has a family while Noni’s only daughter in thirties or forties is living in US, and is not married yet. The play gradually answers all these and comments on societal norms’ impact on the individual’s happiness.

Lillete Dubey’s direction comes through with flying colors yet again. A good actor, she is. She does justice to the roles on the stage as an actor, but what she does to as a director is magic. This play is yet another directorial masterpiece which strikes perfect balance of every emotion and every situation. The characterization is well done, and the cast fits the roles effortlessly.

Strongly recommended for the balance it strikes. The play impacts the progressive outward attitude of characters against regressive inner mindsets; yet manages to deliver it all on a lighter note. Weathering the traffic on road, tensions in office, with ever-increasing costs at home, the performance provides much needed thoughtful break to Mumbai audience!

AglaPlay Verdict: Do watch!
AglaPlay Rating: 4/5
Language: English
Duration: 90 minutes
Writer: Twinkle Khanna
Director: Lillete Dubey
Cast: Lillete Dubey (Noni Appa), 
Jayati Bhatia (Binny), 
Yatin Karyekar (Anand) & Others

Below are a few relevant links. The web links to other reviews are also provided for easy reference.

Other Links
Review at Broadway.com
Review at BookMyShow
The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad at Goodreads
Lillete Dubey Wikipedia 
Jayati Bhatia Wikipedia

Hamari Neeta Ki Shaadi

In a country of festivals – India – the biggest family festival is still a daughter’s wedding. The traditions may or may not be practised in a Diwali, or a Dussehra, but marriages are different. What will relatives say if a custom is forgotten? What if something is not perfect in this once in a lifetime event? What bad luck may fall upon if some ritual gets missed?

Mumbai-based Upadhyay family with ancestral roots in UP are in the fix here. Their daughter, Neeta, is getting wed in two days. Parents Kaveri and Dashrath are supported by good-natured Chacha ji, Prasad. Team is completed by couple’s son Atul, servant Lallan and driver Mukesh. Many of the challenges and situations are solved deftly by this team. They almost make it too, but then get stuck in a situation. Did they finally manage to solve the issue?

The performance from Ank group cast is again top-notch! Also, a big applause to the team for the welcome surprise before the play! The first half of the play is tight and sticks to the problems with which audience can connect. The characters of Chacha ji is particularly entertaining and well-developed through the scenes. The play has its moments to break audience in guffaws.

That said, the play looses its track in mid and the whole focus shifts to a ludicrous situation. The only thing more ridiculous than the situation is the solutions by the characters. The immense potential – both of the chosen topic and the competence of the actors – is largely wasted. The end product is an average play which is still watchable, but stops far from being a memorable one.

AglaPlay Verdict: Average.
AglaPlay Rating: 2/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: 90 minutes
Writer: Veena Bakshi 
Director:  Veena Bakshi
Cast:  Shankar Iyer (Prasad)
Aman Gupta (Dashrath), 
Preeta Mathur (Kaveri),  
Arunima Joshi (Neeta),
B. Topiwala, J. Rehman,
Mani Pillai, Rajat Yadav
and S. Priyadarshi 

Below are a few relevant links. The web links to other reviews are also provided for easy reference.

Other Links
Review by Deepa Gehlot
Veena Bakshi IMDb

Hai Mera Dil

This is the longest running play in Hindi theatre history. Adaption of the 1964 movie ‘Send Me No Flowers’, the play’s 1150th show was staged in March 2019. The play continues to be regularly performed on popular demand and is among the most enjoyable performances I have seen.

Hai Mera Dil is about a loving couple Madan and his wife Usha. Madan, a hypochondriac, gets to know from the doctor that he has only few days to live. He has loads to do in these last few days, but finding a person who can take support his simpleton wife takes the top priority. And then, choosing the his final resting place is also not an easy task with many options available from a company which prides itself in ‘solving your grave concerns’. Madan tries to lighten his heart by sharing his feelings with his drunkard friend Arvind. Madan also tries to hook-up Usha with a common friend, Mohan. What follows is a laughing riot with jibes at contemporary political and cultural situations.

The play scores a perfect in all parameters – acting, direction, dialogue delivery and more. A must watch with your partner, audience’s laughter continue unabated from the first to the last scene. I personally respect the playwright for bringing the laughs naturally with a good taste, without berating anyone or any character. Both thumbs up for this play! Please watch!

AglaPlay Verdict: A must watch.
AglaPlay Rating: 5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: 
Writer: Julius J. Epstein, 
Adaption: Late Dinesh Thakur
Director: Late Dinesh Thakur
Cast:  Aman Gupta (Madan), 
Preeta Mathur (Usha),  
Atul Mathur (Arvind),
Sumit Bhardwaj (Mohan),
Shankar Iyer (salesman). 

Below are a few relevant links. The web links to other reviews are also provided for easy reference.

Other Links
A scene from Hai Mera Dil
Send Me No Flowers Wikipedia
Interview of Preeta Mathur & Aman Gupta
The Hindu article on Dinesh Thakur

Ek Rupiya

When something gets stolen, you report to police, then may be to session court, high court. And when you do not get it back, you pray to God. What would happen if God’s money is stolen from temple. To which court, which police would Gods turn to? The play revolves around Munna who has stolen money from temple. Deities have come for collection now and Munna is in a fix. Will Munna mend his ways for good or will he able to talk his way out? Or worse, will he need to return the money he had already spent?

The play is written and directed by Nitin Bharadwaj, seemingly inspired from his childhood memory of stealing a 50-paisa coin from a temple. The beauty of this play is in its simplicity. The plot is refreshing. Undertones of family poverty caused by honesty, the school chores and a young child’s guilt and helplessness are all captured very well. The dialogues are simple yet elegant and fitting. Comic timings are splendidly done. The actors fit their roles to perfection. It is, in my opinion, a gem of the plays. And, a rare gem at that, as I do not see it being performed very frequently.

The play is also young audience friendly – a category I have reserved for performances which meet both of the following criteria:
– do not use any political/other innuendos or inappropriate language, and
– can be thoroughly enjoyed by children.

AglaPlay Verdict: A must watch.
AglaPlay Rating: 5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: 
Writer: Nitin Bharadwaj
Director: Nitin Bharadwaj
Cast: Bhupesh Singh, 
Kavin Dave, Aakkash Basnet,
Trimala Adhikari, Shailesh Singh,
Piazza Priyam, Imtiyaz Ansari
and Nitin Bharadwaj

Generally I post relevant links to the play, the trailers, third party reviews etc. which could add value to the reader. I failed to find any relevant video or review for this rare theatrical masterpiece.

Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhya

Setup in 1947, the title of the play states that one’s life is incomplete without experiencing Lahore. Pre-1940 Lahore was a land of religion tolerance. The city had multi-religion, multi-cultural residents who had lived their for generations, till until the dark clouds of partition covered the city and ruptured it from within. The play starts in this dark era of Indo-Pakistan separation.

The play tells the story of an old Hindu woman who is waiting alone at her Lahore home when most non-muslims have fled the city. She is waiting for her son, Ratan, to come back. Meanwhile, her haveli is assigned to a Lucknavi family who have left their home in India to move to Pakistan. What follows is a story which upholds humanity and selflessness in the darkest of the eras.

This acclaimed play from writer Asghar Wajahat, performed by Dinesh Thakur’s Ansh Theatre Group is one of the most intriguing plays I have seen. The performance of actors is top-notch and moving. Preeta Mathur Thakur has played the central role which will remain etched in the audience memory for long. The direction is tight and keeps the audience hooked.

AglaPlay Verdict: A must watch.
AglaPlay Rating: 5/5
Language: Hindi / Urdu /Punjabi
Duration: Approx. 2 hours
Writer: Asghar Wajahat
Director: Late Dinesh Thakur
Cast: Preeta Mathur, Aman Gupta, 
Atul Mathur, Pragati Pandey, 
Shilpa Chakravarty, Ashish Saleem, 
and others

Below are a few relevant links. I have also posted the link to Dramatic Club IIT Delhi’s club video for those who may not be able to watch the performance live in their cities.

Other Links
A Scene from the play
Asghar Wajahat Wikipedia
Dinesh Thakur Wikipedia
A column on pre-1947 Lahore by A Hameed
The Hindu article on Dinesh Thakur
Jis Lahore Nahi Dekhyaa performance by IIT Delhi