Set in the mesmerizing Mumbai of the black and white era, Shekhar Kumar’s shocking adventure tale is a ridiculous whirlwind of romance, murder, deceit and suspense. A casual evening at the theatre quickly turns into a fast-paced chase sequence for the unsuspecting hero when gunshots are fired at the legendary Opera House during a performance. A mysterious and beautiful woman lands in his arms pleading for help amid mob chaos and he reluctantly agrees, walking right into an International spy ring primed and ready to unleash a treacherous scheme that will disarm the nation and give away control of a vital defense secret. Without any warning or heroic intentions, Shekhar Kumar finds that he is the only one who can stop this outrageous plan.
Detective 9-2-11 is a gripping, nerve-wracking but thoroughly exhilarating escape drama where the events are always poised at the cusp of impossibility and yet, within the faint shadow of ‘probable’. Shekhar Kumar is the man of the hour, racing against time and hunted by both, the good and bad guys all over land and sea. He remains incognito for sleazy sleuths and irresistible to femme fatales. Wrapped up in the enigmatic visual and narrative style of ‘Noir’, Shekhar is an ordinary man with an extraordinary story to tell.
Director’s quote:
“The love of graphic novels, gangster films, Noir genre, Bollywood of black and white era and, of course, a major influence of Hitchcock and Chaplin; then to imagine a theatre performance that could bring all of these worlds together was a dream come true. Imagine the protagonist weaving his escapades through the streets of Mumbai of yesteryears and romancing beautiful women and with their help, solving the mysteries of the secret gangs, spies and espionage.
Finally, an opportunity for me to work with physically trained actors who could jump genres with in a singular world and move smoothly through Farce to Commedia to Physical Comedy. The backstage and onstage merge as a team of eight performers jump in and out of the action as they change costumes in front of audience, light up the scene manually, and take on many characters in front of the audience.
All this set to the swing and jazz tunes of a live band with double bass, saxophone, drums, trumpet and keys and the visual landscape of the production be of cinema studios and smoky gangster films, drifting between real and fictional.”
Playwright: Pallav Singh and Niketan Sharma
Genre: Gangster Physical Comedy
Language/s: Hindi & English
Duration: 90 mins
Interval: Yes
Designed & Directed by: Atul Kumar
Theatre group: The Company Theatre
Credits:
Assistant Directors: Dheer Hira, Lyra Dutt, Dhara Mehta, Divyesh Vijayakar
Written by: Pallav Singh, Niketan Sharma and Gagan Dev Riar
Executive Producer: Deepankar Pai
Performers:
Neil Bhoopalam/ Sanket Kadam, Abir Abrar/Srishthi Shrivastava, Gagan Dev Riar/Roshan Shetty, Niketan Sharma, Sukant Goel, Mrunmayee Godbole, Rachel D’souza, Mallika Singh, Anna Ador
Musicians:
Harsh Karangale: Drums
Kaizad Gherda: Keyboard
James Miranda: Trumpet
Vishal Singh: Upright Bass
Anish Ghanekar: Saxophone
Technical:
Sound Engineer: Varun Gupta
Light Operator: Rahul Joglekar
Production Manager: Pooja Posane
Backstage: Manjeet Singh Makkar and Shivani Dwivedi
Other Credits:
Written by: Pallav Singh and Niketan Sharma
Original Jazz Soundtrack created by all musicians
Vocal Track “Aisee Bhi Kya Jaldee Hai” written and composed by Gagan Dev Riar and sung by Mallika Singh.
BTS Video: Manuj Kathuria
Thanks to: NSD 2nd year Students, Yuki Ellias, Puja Sarup, Irene Fiordilino, all our volunteers and Shernaz Patel
Dates & Venues:
- Chennai - Aug 11, 2018, Sir Mutha Concert Hall, Chetpet
- Bengaluru - Aug 18, 2018, Chowdiah Memorial Hall
- Hyderabad - Aug 25, 2018, Ravindra Bharathi
Time: 7.30 pm
Sponsors:
- Title Sponsor – YES Bank
- Radio Partner – Fever 91.9 FM
- Event Manager – I Ads and Events
At a glance:
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