With 1,098 shows, Hindi play among longest-running in Mumbai
MUMBAI: She has seen it eight times in the last 16 years. Dancer Tanushree Gupta would've caught the 1,098th show of Hindi play 'HaiMeraDil'
on Saturday and taken the tab to nine if there was no urgent work. "It
is funny but hard-hitting ," says Gupta, who keeps catching plays
repeatedly for their craft and sometimes, laughs. Re-runs are hardly
boring for those like Gupta. And a few plays in Mumbai easily sport the
longest running tag, whether it is IPTA group's satire 'ShatranjKeMohre' or AnkTheatre Group's 'HaiMeraDil'.
"Some of these repeat viewers have offered to play a part in case any of the crew doesn't show up," laughs Preeta Mathur, who plays the suspicious wife to a hypochondriac husband in the play, which opened in 1973. Ramesh Talwar, director of IPTA's satire , has stopped counting the number of shows. "We didn't want to get into numbers. We started the play in 1970 and this is its 31st year," says Talwar.
The appeal is in part due to the social drama that is set in a light-hearted environment. "It is not very intellectually complicated but connects with every man. I don't find it boring as every time I watch it I get a fresh thought," says Govind Swaroop, retired civil servant, who has seen 'Hai Mera Dil' four times. The humour is in the details. For example, the husband , who is all set to die soon, wants to ensure that his mathematicallychallenged wife can manage without him. "He asks her the price of 1kg paneer and she replies that she bought only half a kilo from the market," says Mathur.
Though the premise looks simple, the play reflects the complexities of life. "There are hypochondriacs around you and suspicious wives. When seen in a good comedy, it is entertaining ," says Swaroop. 'Shatranj' draws people because there is a timeless appeal to classic humour, says actor Anjjan Srivastav, who joined the play in 1997. "It is not vulgar but socially relevant, pure humour of P L Deshpande ," says Talwar. The fans laugh indulgently and repeat lines even before they are mouthed. "People who have seen it in Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi come up to us to tell which all actors they have seen play the same role," he says.
But these feats are nothing compared to the well-established Marathi theatre tradition. "There are plays that have completed thousands of shows. 'Vastraharan' , which completed around 5,000 shows, is still running ," says Deepak Karanjikar, actor and secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad. Most such plays are primarily social dramas that touch upon the universal themes of family and society in a lighter vein. "Also, people find it comforting to regurgitate the jokes while relishing the opportunity to sit back and relax," says Karanjikar.
The actors also find it easier to work from their comfort zone while constantly modernising their act. Shatranj's makers have trimmed the length from a bulky three hours to a manageable two. 'Hai Mera Dil' keeps adding contemporary references to jazz up the show. On Saturday , Kasab made an appearance in a dream sequence. But that could well be Narendra Modi or Manmohan Singh the next time as their real life political drama has hit an all-time high, says Mathur.
Long shots
The longest-running play in the world remains Agatha Christie's ' The Mousetrap' , a murder mystery, with more than 25,000 shows
'Love Letters' with more than 250 performances is one of the longest running English plays in India
Marathi play 'Vastraharan' has completed around 5,000 shows and is still running
"Some of these repeat viewers have offered to play a part in case any of the crew doesn't show up," laughs Preeta Mathur, who plays the suspicious wife to a hypochondriac husband in the play, which opened in 1973. Ramesh Talwar, director of IPTA's satire , has stopped counting the number of shows. "We didn't want to get into numbers. We started the play in 1970 and this is its 31st year," says Talwar.
The appeal is in part due to the social drama that is set in a light-hearted environment. "It is not very intellectually complicated but connects with every man. I don't find it boring as every time I watch it I get a fresh thought," says Govind Swaroop, retired civil servant, who has seen 'Hai Mera Dil' four times. The humour is in the details. For example, the husband , who is all set to die soon, wants to ensure that his mathematicallychallenged wife can manage without him. "He asks her the price of 1kg paneer and she replies that she bought only half a kilo from the market," says Mathur.
Though the premise looks simple, the play reflects the complexities of life. "There are hypochondriacs around you and suspicious wives. When seen in a good comedy, it is entertaining ," says Swaroop. 'Shatranj' draws people because there is a timeless appeal to classic humour, says actor Anjjan Srivastav, who joined the play in 1997. "It is not vulgar but socially relevant, pure humour of P L Deshpande ," says Talwar. The fans laugh indulgently and repeat lines even before they are mouthed. "People who have seen it in Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi come up to us to tell which all actors they have seen play the same role," he says.
But these feats are nothing compared to the well-established Marathi theatre tradition. "There are plays that have completed thousands of shows. 'Vastraharan' , which completed around 5,000 shows, is still running ," says Deepak Karanjikar, actor and secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad. Most such plays are primarily social dramas that touch upon the universal themes of family and society in a lighter vein. "Also, people find it comforting to regurgitate the jokes while relishing the opportunity to sit back and relax," says Karanjikar.
The actors also find it easier to work from their comfort zone while constantly modernising their act. Shatranj's makers have trimmed the length from a bulky three hours to a manageable two. 'Hai Mera Dil' keeps adding contemporary references to jazz up the show. On Saturday , Kasab made an appearance in a dream sequence. But that could well be Narendra Modi or Manmohan Singh the next time as their real life political drama has hit an all-time high, says Mathur.
Long shots
The longest-running play in the world remains Agatha Christie's ' The Mousetrap' , a murder mystery, with more than 25,000 shows
'Love Letters' with more than 250 performances is one of the longest running English plays in India
Marathi play 'Vastraharan' has completed around 5,000 shows and is still running
