The noteworthy aspect of “Maan Gaye Ustaad”, which was presented by IPR Society at LTG auditorium this past week, is that the show was ticketed and the hall was jam-packed. With Dinesh Ahlawat as the leading light of the group, it is known as an amateur theatre group regularly staging mostly popular comedies. In the process it has built its audience who enthusiastically buy tickets. A diploma holder in acting from Shri Ram Centre and having worked with the late Panchanan Pathak, the pioneer of the theatre music and active member of the Indian Peoples Theatre Association, Dinesh is trying to bring together amateur groups in the Capital by organising theatre festivals.
This year's festival will feature the productions of 22 groups as weekend theatre festival beginning from August 28. The participating groups include Rangbhoomi, Pragya Art and Prastav. These are the groups whose productions have not been selected for Bharat Rang Mahotsav nor do these receive government patronage but they are producing plays regularly, depending mainly on the box-office collections. In fact, Dinesh and his group are keen to promote weekend theatre in Delhi. “Maan Gaye Ustad” is part of this campaign.
Written by the late Satish De, who mostly wrote comedies, “Maan Gaye Ustad” is directed by Ishwar Pal Singh. His production has several rough edges. Some sequences are marred by overacting. At places he has used film songs but far from evoking laughter, these songs weakened comic rhythm. But in the second half the production acquires momentum, offering the audience hilarious moments. Using mere wooden frames, he has suggestively created the required ambience of a modest guest house managed by two rogue servants. The entry and exit points are effective, leaving enough centrestage for actors to act unhindered. The director manages to exploit some comic elements – the comedy of mistaken identity, awkwardness of situations and the hypocrisy of pretenders.
The storyline is almost similar to that of a Bollywood movie, ridden with clichés. It is based on the long lost daughter and son of a rich man, who died leaving his little son behind. The father is desperately trying to find out his daughter who owns a guest house. He leaves the management of the guest house at the hands of his two servants who consider themselves too clever to cheat the owner. They have two clients – a young man who remains on night duty in a factory and a young girl who works in an office during the day. As the servants attend these clients staying in the same room at different times, they have to confront a number of complications to hide their acts of befooling the clients. They keep on resorting to lies after lies. The situation becomes funny with the discovery of clothes of female in the room by male client and male clothes by the female client. As the narrative reaches the climax, both the clients face one another, accusing of invading privacy.
Some spices are added to the narrative. The male client is under the delusion that his room is visited by a fairy who is in love with him. He is thrilled. On the suggestion of his friend, a wizard is invited in the night, who appears in a weird dress in the company of his two assistants. He starts performing rituals, boasting in possession of immense prowess to control all kinds of spirits. He flees from the scene as soon as the servants in the garb of ghosts attack him and his assistants. This scene is effective enough to evoke laughter. It has vitality, suspense and fun.
Predictably, the complications are resolved on a happy note. The aim of the production is not to convey any moral message but to keep the audience in good humour.
Amit Gambhir as Senior Servant Ustaad and Jatin Sharma as the junior to the Ustaad could have made their scenes hilarious if they had not resorted to overacting. However, in the garb of ghosts they give a better account of themselves. Nikhil Puri as the friend of male client of the guest house, Kapil Attri as the male client and Pooja Chauhan as the female client delighted the audience. Vipul, as the fake wizard, is the most impressive of all the performers.
