Some plays let you reflect; some let you laugh. But, there are some gems that make you laugh while nudging you ever so subtly into introspection. ‘ Sun kar bura lagta hai, par sahi bhi lagta hai ,’ Sudheer (Manav Kaul) says about the bitter truth he hears from Aarti (Srishti Srivastava). That was the class of dialogues that the audience was treated to for more than an hour – witty, humorous and reflective. That plenty of thought had gone into penning them was clear; that a play can be so insightful without compromising on wit and without giving in to obscenity – that was lucidly demonstrated at Ravindra Bharati by the production, ‘Chuhal’, meaning mirth, written and directed by Manav Kaul.
In contrast
The play perambulates two contrasting characters — Sudheer and Aarti — who meet during a routine matchmaking meet. He is enamoured by her; she, not so much. Questioning established conventions is second nature to her; the maverick that she is, she questions why she has to wash her face before meeting the prospective groom, sending the audience into splits of laughter. As time passes by, it is revealed that both of them are thinking of the other, for different reasons, until they eventually meet again. However, the simpleton that Sudheer is, he is sent into a tizzy by Aarti’s complex, multi-layered character leading to a misunderstanding and a final climax.
Aarti is one of the most delightfully penned heroines in recent times. She is independent, audacious, straightforward, and impressively, free. Above all, she admittedly understands her intrinsic nature – to be mesmerised by the enigmatic and to be bored by that which she already knows and understands. Sudheer flickers like a firefly in his admiration for her, evanescent when she visits his village, where he is a humble schoolteacher lost in the daily humdrum of a stagnated, lacklustre life, and depressed when she spurns him for being just another mediocre guy looking for nothing more from life than what is stale. He has ambitions, yes, and she pushes him to explore them only to confuse him more. The narrative uses Chuhal or mirthful banter between them to keep the play interesting. Aarti’s mother and Sudheer’s sister add to the interesting brand of humour that the play carries right through.
A special word about the ‘lighting’ managed offstage by Gurleen Judge. So good was the chiaroscuro conjured by her that one can write an entire ode to the nuances she brought into play, pun intended. The lighting was languidly artistic, the delicate churn of colours and intensities on the stage focussing on the right spots at the right moments.
