Based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Piya Behrupiya is a Hindi musical drama by The Company Theatre and directed by theatre doyen Atul Kumar. It played to a packed house at London’s Globe theatre and was recently staged at Pune’s Nehru Hall. The play unfurls with a huge portrait of Shakespeare to whom the arriving stage actors pay their obeisance. Soon the air bristles with warm ditties and animated gags as the play unfolds and characters are introduced (with the original names being retained).
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There are no moments of languidness in the play as it swiftly moves through several plots and sub-plots. The opening scene is that of Viola (Gitanjali Kulkarni) grieving the loss of her brother, Sebastian (Amitosh Nagpal) and deciding to masquerade as a man to survive in a bad world. One of the best scenes in the play is the one where several hands are shown working together to help her change into a man’s attire. She soon becomes a trusted attendant of Duke Orsino (Sagar Deshmukh) who is in love with Lady Olivia (Mansi Multani).
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Upon Orsino’s insistence, Viola (who now takes on the moniker of Cesario) visits Olivia and waxes eloquent about her master’s love for her. However, Olivia falls for Cesario instead and is heart-broken when she is rejected. Voila feels the pangs of unrequited love too and this is beautifully depicted through the expressionist lighting effects. Set against a dark silhouette, a transformation is seen of a manly figure into a graceful lady who lets her hair flow loose (to reveal who she really is). There are moments of mirth when Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby (Gagan Riar) and his side-kicks (Mantra Mugdh and Trupti Khamkar) bamboozle Olivia’s steward, Malvolio (Saurabh Nayyar) into believing that Lady Olivia loves him. The play ends with Sebastian uniting with his sister and getting married to Lady Olivia. Duke Orsino realizes Viola’s love for him and both get married as well.
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Amitosh Nagpal entertained with a smarmy charm and laconic wit. Incidentally, he is also the one who translated the play into Hindi. His quips about a thankless job of translation and a minuscule role are the funniest. On one occasion, Amitosh even points at a lady in the audience and remarks that she wouldn’t really understand Shakespearean drama when she is too busy lapping up telly soaps!
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Geetanjali Kulkarni essays the twin roles of Viola and Cesario with equal aplomb and delivers some of the most memorable lines in the play. Neha Saraf as the clown Feste has a voice that rises above all others. Mansi Multani’s Punjabi look and accent are a treat to watch and listen to. Her Ce-jha-rio adlib and breaking into songs of pathos are some of the most rib-tickling parts of the play. Sagar Deshmukh mouths Marathi idioms at all the right moments and Trupti Khamkar delights with her high-pitched voice and self-assurance as she chews every word of her dialogue.
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The symphonic folk music is a high-point. The play’s musical elements combine beautifully with the humor and the drama. So, while Sir Andrews (Mantra Mugdh) swirls around in crazy pirouettes to mimic a Sufi dervish, Kabir’s verses of wisdom are spouted on several occasions. Also, bits of qawalli and loads of expletives are tossed around by the two warring groups that end in a climatic crescendo. Sad ditties of lost love sound funny when they are enacted in the tenor of Hindi filmi songs of yore.
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