Of marriage, family and friendship

KOLKATA: Marriage has been a huge concern for Feroz Abbas Khan. "So many people look like a tranquil, ideal couple and then one day we hear they're divorced. That forces us to review the whole quest for happiness through marriage and children when romance goes out of it," says the theatre and film director, playwright and screen writer. And as he speaks, there's a concern in his voice that is echoed in the dialogues of the play, Dinner With Friends', staged on Monday at GD Birla Sabhagar in the Culture Curry segment of The Times of India Kolkata Festival.
There are certain dos and don'ts in every marriage. You'll have to confront infidelity, you'll seek happiness outside, certain boredom will come in. You must face up to it and be within the vows you've taken and commitments you've made. "You can't have the best of both worlds!" four friends realise at the end of the off-Broadway comedy inspired by the Pulitzer winning play by Donal Margulies.
"The institution of marriage earlier needed a whole lot of sacrifices," Feroz continues to speak. Our parents' generation held moral values above all else. Then family unit and financial security came to be equally important. Today, when instant gratification is the rule, the threshold for tolerance is lower. Also, with the changing dynamics of gender, women are no longer willing to make sacrifices for their kids career is a higher priority. "And, like our city's skyline, this emotional landscape too is globalised there's little difference between the reality of a couple in New York and one in New Delhi."
Dinner With Friends' unfolds with Dia telling her best friends that Harsh is leaving her for another woman. Vikram and Maya immediately line up along gender lines. However, when Harsh tells the story from his end, Vikram is forced to introspect about his own marriage. One broken marriage leads to four dissolved friendships: once again Feroz exposes the insecurities people confront when there are shattering changes in their lives.
But, though it raises many questions, the frequent bouts of laughter in the audience tells you that the play is neither didactic nor dialectical. Feroz doesn't believe in "intellectual terrorism" theatre has to be stimulating, he stresses. "I share contemporary concerns and joys," he underscores. He doesn't have answers for everything, so he never gives out "a message." At no point does Dinner With Friends' become preachy.
With this play Feroz was returning to theatre after his foray into cinema with the National award-winning Gandhi My Father'. And, like Tumhari Amrita', Saalgirah', Salesman Ramlal', and Gandhi Vs Mahatma', this play of characters caught between two demanding value systems too opened to full houses. "Frankly, I've been taken aback by the reaction," tells the director inspired by Ratan Thiyam, Jennifer Kapoor and Peter Brook. Blending Eastern values with Western sensibilities and professionalism, Feroz has proved that theatre, even in this age of multiplexes and satellite channels, can be a viable form of mainstream entertainment. From intensely contemplative to utterly exhilarating, from autobiographical to musical Feroz has experimented with both form and content. And these have not only sensitised audiences he's also been raising enough funds to support focused programmes of several NGOs.
Dinner With Friends' crackles with an intensity that only a talented cast can bring into any exploration of relationships. And, Feroz has four natural actors Tisca Chopra, Perizad Zorabian, Joy Sengupta and Vinay Jain to live the characters. Tisca has acted on stage, in Mahatma Vs Gandhi'; on television, in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki'; in Taare Zameen Par' and Firaq'. Joy, trained under Alkazi, has acted in several films including Nihalani's Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa'. Perizaad, a theatre graduate from NY, was in Bollywood Calling', Morning Raga', Mumbai Matinee' and, of course, Joggers Park'. And veteran artiste Vinay, after courses in London, has done plays like Mahatma Vs Gandhi', Salesman Ramlal', Legend of Ram'; TV serial Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin'; films Cheeni Kum', Karthik Calling Karthik'.
However, Feroz passed on much of the credit for the play's success to the Kolkata audience. "It's not a regular play with a straight narrative or high dramatic moments. It's like you've walked into someone's drawing room and picking up little details about their quirky behaviour by overhearing conversations in the bedroom." So he was worried about how it would be received here. He needn't have. "People here gravitate towards theatre that's alive and kicking, because they are evolved in their taste." A cliche? It might be, but "it's a cliche because it has been said so many times and everytime it has been spoken to state a truth."