Love Hurts:
Whenever Manav Kaul has turned his attention to children or young people in his plays like Mamtazbhai Patangwale or Lal Pencil, they have brough to the stage a whiff of innocence, that is now lost even in small towns, not to mention cities.
His latest, Pyaar Aadmi Ko Kabootar Bana Deta Hai (that opened at the Prithvi Theatre Festival), based on one of his own stories, is set in a pre-internet and cell phone era. Teens, however, did have raging hormones, and an attraction towards the opposite sex. And the safest means of communication was a reliable friend to deliver a love letter. But what if the object of affection prefers English, and the lovelorn young man does not know the language? A friendly scribe has to be found to write that all-important letter. What if the scribe has his own agenda? Romantic and comic confusion ensues!
Three boys (Ajitesh Gupta, Jitendra Singh Rajput, Mohit Agarwal), three girls (Harshika Parmar, Manasi Bhawalkar, Sonakshi Singh), the equation ought to be simple, but this puppy love is complicated—witnessed by three cooing pigeons (who also double up as the girls). Salim and Prem are in love with Meenakshi; Raju is in love with her friend Neena. Prem, an aspiring writer, is cajoled into penning love letters for Raju, who is runs a tea stall and is both proud and slightly embarrassed about it. What Prem writes would be a spoiler, suffice it to say, Cyrano De Bergerac is turned on its head. Manav Kaul makes a hilarious ‘guest’ appearance as a colourful character out of Prem’s fiction. Ashish Mishra, playing the harmonium, also has a sweet but redundant role as Prem’s visually-challenged father and confidant.
There are songs (lyrics by Raghav Dutt, music by Mohit Agarwal) dances and rambunctious humour, which had been missing from Kaul’s last few ruminative plays. Clearly, he has regained, or had never really lost his sense of mischief. The actor are all well past teens, but bring such childlike charm and energy to their roles, that Pyaar Aadmi Ko Kabootar Bana Deta Hai turns into a delightfully entertaining production. Particularly nostalgia-inducing for anyone who ever found a pink, scented love letter in their school notebook. A phone text can never make the heart soar, as the opening words, “My Dear…”
(This piece first appeared in mumbaitheatreguide.com)
