Skip to main content

A Slice of Life

Saw the play "Boiled Beans on Toast", written by Girish Karnad and directed by theatre thespian Lillette Dubey, yesterday. Set in the backdrop of bustling metropolis Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, the play shows the underside of development, focusing on the people whom we refer to as the common masses.

Away from the limelight, these people form the backbone of the carefree lifestyle the rich and famous lead. The maids, cooks, drivers, salesmen, office clerks, the unsung heroes, who toil away and do the dirty work, while the privileged few can have fun or do more purposeful work. We often forget that these people too have their lives, their private joys, sorrows and concerns, which they suppress in the daily grind of living.

Interestingly, along with showing the lives of these "others", Karnad also focuses on the very humane side of some of the privileged class. We assume that they lead carefree lives, but is it really so? They are also bothered by domestic crises, they too suffer from feelings of insecurity and worthlessness, their past too haunts them. And the young generation, seemingly carefree and callous, is also capable of deep introspection. A doff of the hat to Mr. Karnad for writing such an insightful piece.

Now for the main applause, reserved for the main cast and crew of the play. The actors have done a splendid job, particularly Joy Sengupta, brilliant as the nervous, over-enthusiastic young executive, and the drunk, aggressive brother. Swati Das, Meenal Patel, Avnish Mehra, Meherangiz Acharia, Avantika Akerkar, and all the rest of the cast have performed excellently. Sets could be improved upon and production design could have been a notch better, but no regrets. The overall experience was cathartic and remains as one of the best theatre experiences ever.

Hats off to Lillette Dubey for such  a nuanced play!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Enough! No more rape!

The recent horrifying, stomach-churning incident in Kolkata is not a one-time aberration. It keeps occuring in our country. And we women are also responsible for this stinking rot in society. Ask yourself these uncomfortable questions. How many of you protest when a girl wearing "revealing clothes" is cat-called?  Did you show your support for our wrestlers protesting against a habitual offender? Did your blood boil when you saw pictures of our sisters in Manipur paraded naked?  When rapists are released from prison or routinely escape punishment, do you raise your voice? How many of you have tolerated violence or even casual sexism in your own home? Do you turn the other way when transgenders are leered at? Do you grin and bear it when the men in your family crack obscene jokes? Do Kathua and Hathras ring a bell? And lastly, how many of you thronged cinema halls to make misogynistic horrors like Animal and Kabir Singh blockbusters? I have asked myself and am distinctly feeli...

All We Imagine as Light- Lyricism on Celluloid

When an Indian film makes it the prestigious Cannes film festival, the world sits up and takes notice! And the lovely ladies swinging on the stage is a recent memory that brings a sense of pride. I had the good fortune to catch this film on screen recently. A review of such work is unnecessary, but still am bursting to say a few words. Right from the scintillating background score, to the events that unfold like pages fluttering in an open book, to the effortless performances, it's a masterpiece all right! The first half romances Mumbai- in the rains, at night, in the bazaars, in dingy rooms, in the local trains. Image source: Wikipedia  The second half shows what light truly is, brilliant sunshine, crashing waves and salty air in a small coastal village in Maharashtra. You can feel the taste of salt, the breeze in your hair and the touch of sand under your feet, the cinematography is so real. Payal Kapadia masters the art of holding back, of showing beauty in the mundane. The hosp...

Laapataa Ladies - the Unfortunate Story of Lost Women

Laapataa Ladies is a deceptively simple, yet extremely thought-provoking satire couched in a simple story of exchanged brides. Image Source: IMdB This is the unfortunate story of countless ordinary women living under the veil, in the shadow of uncaring men. Who can't remember any details of their husband or the sasural they are married into. Who are trained only to obey their husband, do their duty in the kitchen, and follow orders of in-laws. Who don't have the liberty to study or do something for their own betterment. What can we expect for such women, except a lifetime of slavery? If the husband happens to be good, then there's some ray of hope. If he's a rascal, then God save her. Thanks to Kiran Rao for addressing the woes of 80% of Indian women living in nameless villages. And thanks for calling out the "greatest fraud" - the fraud of getting ready for marriage and domesticity. Where you can make the perfect kalakand, but you can't find your way...