Novelist and short story writer Bhisham Sahni once observed, “A short story is like lodging in a house one night and moving away the next morning, whereas a novel is like coming into a town where you have to bide for months on end. In a short story, every word must have some eloquence, every utterance some significance.”
Sahni would know what he was talking about because on one hand he mastered every whisper, every footstep, every shade of the forboding darkness of the Partition epic Tamas and on the other, he perfected and polished every facet of a small little gem like Leela Nandlal Ki.
Leela Nandlal Ki is an ironical narration of an ordinary evening when an ordinary man on his way to a play gets caught in circumstances that involve on the surface, a lost scooter, but actually hint at something bigger than him. And when the scooter is found, has he lost a part of himself or reclaimed it? The events that unspool are comic and sad as Nandlal struggles through stodgy red tape, through twists that are funny and cruel in equal measure, and tries to hold on to his essential humanity.
The classic story comes to Bangalore as a Hindi play dramatised by Munish Sharma. Munish plays with Sahni’s sparkling text to blend it with quirky imagery and creates an experience that makes the audience feel, think, react and engage with a reality that is not theirs and yet identifiable.
If you are a theatre regular, you would recognise Munish Sharma as a prolific actor who has worked with theatre professionals like Atul Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Krishna, Vivek Madan and Nimi Ravindran. And in plays like Five Grains of Sugar, Jokumaraswamy, Listen Janmejaya, Lines About a Bullet, Evam Indrajit and Moilere’s Imaginary Invalid among other. He recently acted in several films including Bollywood Hero with Neha Dhupia produced for American Television.
Last year he directed a short film Taala aur Chabi which did festival rounds and he currently runs a production company in Mumbai. His most recent assignment was casting for an international film starring Harvey Keitel.
Catch this play in Bangalore if you want a rewarding evening at the theatre.
The Play: Leela Nandlal Ki
Language: Hindi
Date: 2nd and 3rd November at Ranga Shankara-7:30 PM . Tickets Rs. 100/-
4th November-At Rafiki, at 6:30 PM off Cunnigham Road(limited seating)
5th November-8 PM and 6th November-3 PM and 6:30 PM at Jagriti at White Field: Tickets Rs. 250/-
Writer: Bhisham Sahni
Director: Munish Sharma
Booking: www.indianstage.in and www.bookmyshow.com