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
