Actor-director Shubhrajyoti Barat is in the director’s chair for the third play, of the seventh season, of Aadyam Theatre Festival, Saanp Seedhi. Two weeks before the curtains went up on this adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth, we dropped in at a rehearsal to watch him direct Kumud Mishra, playing a retired filmmaker, Anil Wadhwa.
Actor Sumeet Vyas, who plays the role of a young architect, Mayank Tiwari, opposite Mishra, is not present and a substitute gives Mishra the cues. Play-acting in a small studio in Aaram Nagar, Versova, Mumbai, with minimal props and a proxy opposite him, Mishra’s expressions change, chameleon-like, as he ensnares the architect, who is having a serious affair with his wife, into a web of deceit and revenge.
The play is set in an old, Portuguese villa in Goa, where the filmmaker, Anil Wadhwa, lives with his pretty, young wife. Marvelling at the actors getting into character, we ask Barat how they get their movements right on show nights, on a large stage with elaborate sets, when their rehearsals are in small, sparsely-furnished rooms. “Fortunately, this time we will be doing several rehearsals in a larger place as well, similar in scale to the stage, with most of the props in place, thanks to Aadyam’s comfortable budget,” replies the director, clearly happy to be devoid of financial constraints.
Sharing the details of how the Vivek Jadhav-designed set will look, Barat elaborates, “The filmmaker’s house reflects his flashy personality. So the typical items you see in C-grade filmmakers’ homes, like a piano, a bar, trophies, gilded telephones and huge photographs of themselves, will be seen in Wadhwa’s villa, too.”
In a break during the rehearsal, over steaming cups of coffee, Kumud Mishra who straddles the worlds of theatre and cinema with seeming effortlessness, elaborates on his character. “Anil Wadhwa made low-budget, successful films around the 1980s, married a glamorous, young starlet-type and now lives in Goa. He and his wife have an easy-going relationship, with both having affairs on the side. Till a young architect appears in her life. This is no casual fling; and Wadhwa’s inflated ego is damaged. What follows is a gripping game of saanp-seedhi between the two rivals that will, hopefully, have the audience totally engrossed.”
Having worked together in the past, Barat, Mishra and Vyas share a comfortable equation. In an earlier play, Purane Chawal, produced by their theatre group, D for Drama, Barat and Mishra, together with other actors like Ghanshyam Lalsa, had been directed by Sumeet Vyas. Now, in an interesting role reversal, Vyas is being directed by Barat. “Our relationship goes beyond work so we are very much at ease with such role reversals,” laughs Barat.
Mishra adds, “We enjoy working with friends. There is a comfort level in interacting with like-minded artistes.”
One witnesses the bonhomie between them at the rehearsal. Seasoned actors all, there is no clash of egos when any of them chips in with suggestions. Mishra listens attentively to what Barat says; and Barat takes note of Mishra’s observation that the dummy gun’s shots are not loud enough. Lalsa, who is not acting in this play, is around, helping with production. D for Drama had staged its first play on December 30, 2012, in Sonapani, Uttarakhand. Thirteen years and many entertaining plays later, the group is as close-knit as ever.
Sleuth was written in 1970. Over the years, there have been several stage productions and films based on Shaffer’s play, including one in Bengali. So, how is Saanp Seedhi different from the rest?
“Ours is an Indian adaptation, set in Goa,” replies Barat. “I had read the play before, and, again, recently. I had also seen some of the earlier stage and film versions on YouTube. They were all very impressive but I was very clear that I wanted our play to be different. I didn’t want a sombre play. I wanted a sprinkling of humour without taking away from the seriousness of a psychological drama. So we approached Akarsh Khurana, with whom we have had very satisfying collaborations in the past, to adapt it in Hindi for us, keeping these factors in mind. And I am very happy with the fine balancing act that he has done.”
Khurana’s own productions are, most times, peppered with sarcasm, satire and even nasty humour. So, we speak to him, via voice messaging, to ask what kind of humour he incorporated in Saanp Seedhi?
“Basically, the original Sleuth, written in 1970, is a serious battle of egos which gets more and more serious as the play progresses. But Shubhra wanted to move away from the 70s’ approach and make his play more contemporary, with a mix of seriousness and humour. So the humour in Saanp Seedhi is sarcastic, snarky, borderline aggressive, arising from the competitive game which the two protagonists are playing to outwit each other,” explains Khurana.
If Khurana’s writing lives up to the play’s tagline—Tricks, Traps and Twisted Minds— this game of snakes and ladders has all the potential of being an entertaining dark thriller.
(Next shows — Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Bandra, Mumbai, on March 23; Kamani Auditorium, Delhi, on 29-30 March)
