Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Na Karo – Quintessence of Dust

A prostitute and her customers. A police officer. Mumbai’s local train. Abuses. Crime and punishment. …… No, I am not talking about a Hindi film or a literary work. I am writing about a Gujarati play. Yes, you read it right. A meaningful and thought-provoking Gujarati drama. What drew me to the theatre? The three names associated with it viz, Saumya Joshi (does he need any introduction?), Jayesh More (the actor who brilliantly played a police-officer with razor-sharp intellect in ‘Wrong Side Raju’), Umesh Shukla (producer of the film ‘Oh My God’) and I must say they didn’t let me down at all. Let me begin with some introductory details.

‘Aaj Jaane ki Zid naa Karo’ is a play by Saumya Joshi (the creator of ‘Welcome Jindagi’ and ‘102 Not Out’, and a remarkable poet as well). It is originally written in Marathi by Suresh Chikhle and adapted into Gujarati by Saumya sir and Umesh Shukla as a co-producer. It pertains to the life story of a police officer and a sex-worker who meet up in a late night Mumbai local and the meandering path of their relationship. It is a foray into the life of these controversial characters. It is said that every person is like a moon having a darker side which he never shows to anyone.

Prostitution – an age-old menace of human societies around the world. Men are responsible for the existence of this institution yet the woman is always humiliated, harassed and hurt. What an irony! From Mausam to Manto, from Chandni Bar to Chameli, from Chekhov to Chandrakant Bakshi… a lot of hyper-links popped up in mind while watching it. Bakshibabu has written that out of those four famous Varnas (categories) in Indian society i.e., Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishy and Shudra – Vaishy is the term for businessmen. Female counterpart of Vaishy is VESHYA (woman who sells her body to earn livelihood). However, business tycoons earn name and fame whereas their female counterpart…. No, the play does not intend to justify prostitution nor does it attempt to criminalize it. That’s the beauty of it. Without being judgmental, the plays uncovers under the carpet reality of the society. The plight of that character reminds me of classic words of Sahir Ludhianvi: - “औरत ने मर्द को जन्म दिया और मर्द ने औरत को बाज़ार दिया!”

It opens with a famous Rajasthani folk-song Kaga re Kaga re toh se itni araj mohe chun chun khaiyo maans, khaiyo na do naina inhe piya ke Milan ki aas  and of course the enchanting 'Aaj Jaane ki Zidd na Karo'. We later realize how significant it is with the thematic concerns. As the play is scheduled in Ahmedabad in near future, I must avoid spoilers. What should I write about first? Dialogues, performances, techniques, devices… It excels in almost all departments. Let’s take up stage-craft first.

With just one local train compartment on stage, the producers have presented numerous details. A purse, a bottle, a mobile phone and an umbrella –that’s it: with minimal use of stage-props the story has been depicted.

The play is replete with subtle satires and dramatic ironies. After being released from jail, the prostitute prays to Haji Ali for her bread and butter, she gets a job of phone sex and she says: - "BABA SAB KI SUNTA HAI RE!". She mentions a customer who used to remove all rings from fingers before going to bed with her, trying to befool God. She says she never does so because "WOH SAB KUCHH DEKHTA HAI" Imagine Shri Krishnah Sharanam Mamah as the ringtone of a prostitute’s phone.

Dialogues are not just powerful but piercing. A constable tells his senior:-

·       “Sir, who dhandhewali hai!” and senior replies:- “Hum sab dhandhewale hain!”

·       Tu pehla policewala hai jo dusre ko khilata hai!

·       Hum log ki dua bhi limited hoti hai

·       Jindagi par ujharda padta hoy ne tyare je chahero dekhay ne ae j sacho sambandh kehvay

Fascinating and hard-hitting dialogues are the USP of this play. Black humor and Sarcasm in every line help in creating an ambience. Fabulous one-liners are used to depict darker shades of human emotions.

The performances of Jayesh More and Jigna Vyas are truly commendable. Frankly speaking, in the first act I found Jigna ji's character being eclipsed by the talent of Mr. More despite the fact that major chunk of drama has been allotted to her. It is only in the second act that both of the actors show their true mettle. It becomes difficult to decide who's done it better but there is one situation in act II when Jayesh More's character reveals darkest secrets of his life that this brilliant actor rules the roost. Sound of sobs and Alas interjections suffice to convince us that he has delivered not just intense but overwhelming performance.

Admittedly, there are some minor dramatic anomalies such as that lady bites the man's left hand in anger and resentment but later the man ties a handkerchief on his right hand. However, amidst the incessant flow of emotions, nobody bothers to notice such negligible discrepancies. By the end of the first act, the pace of the play gets a bit slower but an unexpected dramatic happening nudges the audience to alertness. Fast-paced dialogue delivery in cocktail language of Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi and English may puzzle some spectators in the initial scenes.

One of the threats of dealing with such a bold subject is that if the team is even a bit less careful, the play may become loud or indecent (and some Gujarati comic plays are infamous for double-meaning dialogues and contents catering to the lowest common denominator). Luckily the team of 'Aaj Jaane ki Zid na Karo' has been very vigilant about it. I don’t mean to say that the drama has Sigma 6 perfection; there would be some drawback which I might have failed to notice. Being a novice in analyzing theatrical experiences, I may have missed out some lacuna in the play but by and large, it’s a paisa vasool experience.

Franz Kafka said:-

“Altogether, I think we ought to read only books that bite and sting us. If the book we are reading doesn’t shake us awake like a blow to the skull, why bother reading it in the first place? A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is what I believe.”

Here is one such literary work on stage. Just go for it.

Thanks.

-         Jay Mehta

Dopehri – A Novella by Pankaj Kapur

Reviewed by Jay Mehta

08-08-2016

“Man is the only animal who is prone to insanity because he spends so much time in this suffocating prison within his own head.”

-        -  Colin Wilson

Last Sunday we watched Pankaj Kapur narrating a story to a large audience.

In which film?

No, it wasn’t a film. It was a theatrical performance of his own novella – ‘Dopehri’.

Oh, wait. Are you trying to say that Pankaj Kapur is a creative writer?

Yes! After all, he is an artist in the real sense of the term.

I was flabbergasted to see him playing Abbaji (King Duncan) in VB’s Maqbool (Macbeth), but never had I thought he would have written a touchy novella on the life of an old woman.

As mentioned in the synopsis, ‘Dopehri’ is a foray into the life of Amma Bi. A poor old widow who lives an aimless life in Lucknow. Her son Javed lives with his wife in the US. Furniture of the house and a Paan-box are her only companions in a large ancestral mansion -Laal Haveli. She shares strong emotional bond with her servant Jumman and her Rakhi brother Dr. Saxena. The novella is a tale of Amma Bi's struggle to come to terms with her incurable illness - loneliness.

Written in a hilarious manner, 'Dopehri' draws a collage of interpersonal relationships. There is no denial of the fact that Pankaj Kapur is well versed in presenting dark humour on celluloid and now the same can be said about his writing as well. 

Allow me to make a candid confession at this point (apology for digression). Initially, I was baffled because the way in which the program began seemed rather abrupt. I was clueless for quite a long time as I expected some dramatic beginning. However, I had to remind myself that it is a dramatic reading and not a drama itself. Having said that, I must also mention that Pankaj Kapur sir could make it so gripping and lively that I could almost visualise the scenes. Enlivening the life of a character in front of an audience by just reading aloud is not a cakewalk.

Let's critically analyse various aspects of this performance. To begin with thematic concerns, there are innumerable old men and women in society who have been deserted by their insensitive children. In reality, not all are lucky to get that all's well smile at Second Innings Home as shown in the film Lagey Raho Munnabhai. Those poor souls have to live through humiliation, helplessness and (often) hopelessness. Wealth can never substitute warmth of human relationships. Amma Bi's frequent request to the servant to stay with her in afternoon shows her desperate attempts to be in human company. Generation gap, clash of human nature, possessiveness, ebb in filial piety - whatever be the cause, senior citizens do suffer from acute sense of worthlessness and insecurity. 

However, the darkest cloud has a silver lining. Dr. Saxena's suggestion to invite a tenant in a room turns out to be a ray of hope for Amma Bi. Her tenant Sabhia - a young artist from her maternal place Jonpur develops a strong bond with Bi - a bond which comes closest to mother-daughter relation. Working on Sabiha's project of toy-making gives her a new lease of life.

This transformation from a dejected old widow to a support in craft of toy-making is a pivotal part of the novella. Credit goes to Pankaj Kapur's art of characterisation. He weaves characters with such panache that the audience can effortlessly associate with them.

As far as diction is concerned, it came as a pleasant surprise to me. There is an undercurrent of irony even in apparently normal remarks. Rich, figurative language, pictorial description etc give finesse to the work.

Interestingly, various techniques of stage-craft have been utilised in presenting this novella. Accurate and timely use of light and music has been instrumental in the overall appeal of the work. Sound of a clock-bell or an alarm symbolises time slipping slowly from the fist of Amma Bi. Appearance of a tree without leaves and a kite on it speaks volumes for the barrenness of her existence.

However, there have been some flaws such as fast-paced narration, usage of Hindi and Urdu jargon etc. The way Mr. Kapur read aloud reminded me of dialogue-delivery of Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar especially their frequent gear-shifting of intonation.

To sum-up, this has been a novel aesthetic experience for a connoisseur like me. I truly enjoyed watching it but my expectations soared a bit higher, so I anticipated it to be far better than this. Nevertheless, it must be considered an enriching and entertaining reading of a novella.

Thanks.

 - Jay Mehta
(With creative inputs from Keyur Trivedi and Darshita Dave)