A twitter post from Mukesh Chabbra, the casting director who gave us the
cute Harshali of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, made
me curious and I logged on to the Khidkiyaan Theater Festival site and booked
myself and my friend, Shaila Shah for a theater experience over five days
starting January 13th. We were soon joined by our friends M J Kaur and Dipna
Patel (heroine of the Gujjubhai, The Great" fame) and Shariq Ahmed.
“Khidkiyaan” such a beautiful name that immediately brought to my mind a
picture of myself standing at an open window looking into the horizon, this
time it being the world of theater. Yes, and there was a beautiful Khidki made
for visitors to pose and click photos.Presented by Mukesh Chhabra Casting Co.
as its first ever stint in theater, the festival was worth every moment and
definitely worth a visit for sure. Open Mic and sessions on a stage outside
revolving around literature and theater before the plays were performed in the
auditorium added to the fun not to mention the young budding actors and
actresses adding to the magic.
Day one, we landed up much earlier than the show timing and I was
pleasantly surprised to see a warm and comfortable environment with the bustle
of young and bubbly people hanging around interacting. The air was filled with
celebrations as it was Makar Sakrant festival that day. A bonfire and songs
were sung while we all stood around it filled the air with festivity. Amongst
that crowd stood two outstanding directors Imtiaz Ali and Vikas Bahl who had
inaugurated the festival and it did not take me long to approach them for a
click. I have to say that they were so down to earth men that both of them actually
offered to click each other's photos with me turn by turn. Ha ha ha ha ha..
Lucky me!
GUNNO BAI, play of day one with its outstanding performance and singing
by Chittranjan Tripathy, the director and actor was one of a kind
experience. Gunno Bai told the story of
a high profile eunuch in Delhi known for her singing. Her life story is revealed through flash
backs of theatrical events, monologues and songs beautifully sung by the lead
actor himself. As it unfurls Gunno Bai turns out to be a young man who had come
to Delhi to become an IAS officer but fails at this dream. The audience is
transported back and forth into a flash back of his life as he tells us that
money was not easy to earn and one evening sees a man dressed as a woman
singing on the roads. He decides to use the same ruse to earn and no one ever
realises that he is actually a man disguised as an eunuch until the day he gets
a telegram that his father is visiting him. Gunno Bai is in a dilemma and
because he reveres his father, he decides to kill himself before his arrival,
but he also has a huge score to settle with someone. Does he kill himself and
what was the score he needed to settle is what keeps you completely engrossed
and gripped. Beautifully penned songs to one poem, where Gunno bai speaks to
death completely stole my heart.
Day 2, it was SHADOW OF OTHELLO about a small group of men enamored
totally by the film Omkara to such an extent that they decide to perform it and
ask a theater director to direct them.
What starts off as a gang of enthused actors turns into a conflict when
one of them is not chosen to play the part that he wanted to, leading to
jealousy and intrigue. Othello / Omkara becomes a part of their lives and
thereon how the shadow of Othello consumes them all forms the crux of the
story. A talented cast and a hilarious representation helped. Guest of the day
were Piyush Sharma, Richa Sharma, Sushant Rajput Singh and Makrand Deshpande.
Day 3 - A band "TROUBADOURS" belted out fantastic and
outstanding numbers followed by a performance by Khushaal Pawaar (of Bajrangi
Bhaijaan fame). Sunil Shetty, Manoj Bajpai and others graced the occasion that
day. This was followed by the play OLD MUNK which I found a bit confusing and
inaudible as the actors did not really throw their voices . I did mention this
to the lead actor the next day though. Old Munk is the story of three
characters - DK, his wife and his wife’s friend Anjana who visits the couple
after a long time. As the evening progresses, untold stories and actual truth
behind their relationships and lies come to light as the skeletons fall out
bringing unimaginable revelations.
Day 4 - BLACKBIRD is the love story of two characters. Uma, a 12 year
old girl who mature beyond her years, falls for an elderly man Rajesh. Rajesh
who also is attracted to her decides to runs away with her, but confused and
out of fear abandons her for some time at a hotel when all hell breaks loose as
he is convicted of raping a minor. Uma lives through the years being talked
about while Rajesh does his time and rebuilds his life. Uma searches him out and the confrontation
goes back and forth between anger and the search for truth and unresolved
issues. Swanand Kirkire, as the elderly man proves his mettle with a power
packed performance that holds the play together ably supported by Mabel Vyas.
Guests of the day were Manav Kaul, Kabir Khan, Nawazuddin Siddique and Radhika
Apte..
Day 5 - KOI BAAT CHALE a romantic comedy revolving around a 35 year old
unmarried drama teacher who loves Supriya but is unable to profess his love for
her. He resorts to the services of a marriage bureau to help him find her
mentioning especially of the black mole on the left cheek right below the
ear which leadis to him meeting many
girls that fill the bill, but not the girl he wants. Ultimately he takes the
bull by the horns and gets the girl. This play marked the finale of KHIDKIYAAN
theatre festival with the most out of the world acting by Yashpal Sharma and
Ritu Sharma in the play and ending with Ayushmaan Khurrana's performance.
It was not just the guests that I mentioned that came to wish the
festival well. There were so many actors, actresses and theatre personalities
all around interacting and very happily agreeing to clicking selfies and
believe me I did get them all. Bumped into so many of my young actor friends
and made so many new friends that believe me, I had withdrawal symptoms for
days thereafter missing the wonderful theatre world that I enjoyed for five
full days without a break. A big "lets do it again next year" to my friends Jeet (MJ Kaur), Shaila Shah, Dipna Patel and Shariq Ahmed.... All I can say is a well organised, commendable feat
and a big thumb up to Mukesh Chabbra and KHIDKIYAAN theatre festival and as
Sunil Shetty said it should be taken to every city in India.
