The Killer Question:
If a play is called Qatl, then it can be assumed it is about murder. But if it is a Makrand Deshpande play, then it cannot be a straight murder mystery. It is his latest play, staged during his annual Ansh Manch Festival, along with other recent work and the perennial favourite, Sir Sir Sarla.
It starts with a lawyer and a psychiatrist (Bharat More, Susheel) having a ‘silent’ conversation, because they have not been given any lines. Deshpande himself, plays Sutradhar, who is trying to get his flighty cast to get their act together, when the actor playing a blind nonagenarian (Ninad Limaye), whose grandson has supposedly been murdered, throws a tantrum, and is shooed off stage.
A backstage guy (Sanjay Dadhich) is pushed into acting, and the first thing he does is demand a spotlight and call his mother. “I want to be such a successful actor,” he says, “that I never have to do theatre again.” Sutradhar is understandably miffed.
Like so many of Deshpande’s plays, QATL has an improvised feel, like it was created as rehearsals progressed, and actors’ inputs were included. The old man believes three women Sur (Rachita Arrora), Taal (Aakanksha Gade) and Shringar (Aditi Pohankar) were responsible for the death of his grandson. The presence of the three colourfully dressed women, means there is music and dance, and a dialogue on the importance of Shringar. The song-and-dance may not be an organic part of the play, but Gade and Arrora impress with their artistry, and there is live music to enhance their performance.
There are ideas Deshpande wants to explore, and points he wants to make, and finds a way to fit them into the text. Like the crabby old man, not being allowed to speak, explains, “This is a democracy!” And Sutradhar cheekily asks “Where is democracy?”
Only Deshpande could take such a circuitous route to say that money is killing art. He raises the debate on commercial versus experimental—as well he should, being a proponent of the latter, and a successful one too, so much so that he has a loyal following at Prithvi Theatre that fills up for his plays, and some of them have travelled outside the confines of this space, to introduce Deshpande’s offbeat work to traditional venues, where audiences that are yet to absorb the classics fully, have his crazy energy thrown at them. He plays around with sets (not so much in (QATL), lights (Amogh Phadke matching his vision) and music for his productions that are baffling at first, but the various disparate pieces come together to form a coherent shape—sometimes this jigsaw style works, sometimes not. But he makes the audience work to complete the full picture. Those who manage might find the work rewarding…and those who do, come back for more.
Photo: Courtesy Instagram
(This piece first appeared in mumbaitheatreguide.com)