Living in a dream

The synopsis of Chandrakant Kulkarni’s Bas Itna Sa Khwab describes it as ‘a socio-pyschological thriller that takes an extraordinary glimpse into the translucent land of reality mingling into fantasy’. The play takes you through the incredible journey of Abhimanyu (Kiran Karmarkar) and Shalu Singh (Shiffali Shah). Incredible because the couple stay with their make-believe son, Mohit.Abhimanyu and Shalu are blissful in their imaginary world until Abhimanyu’s teacher’s son Sameer (Adhir Bhatt) and his wife Aparna (Abir Abrar) come and disturb it.
Shalu cannot stop talking about Mohit to Aparna and Sameer, who are going to be parents. Each time they want to meet the boy, she tells them that he has gone out. Shalu even prompts the couple to buy a present for Mohit. They are very keen to give him the present themselves but Shalu tells them Mohit won’t be home till late in the night.
One night Sameer, a clinical psychologist, chances upon Shalu scolding an imaginary Mohit. The next morning, he is stunned to hear Shalu say that the boy has left home early. Sameer confronts Shalu with a reality she refuses to accept. “You exist because I believe you exist and not because you think you do,’’ she tells him.
Bas Itna Sa Khwab tries to prove how the root cause of most of our problems lies in the invisible social and psychological pressures that threaten our very existence. Abhimanyu also refuses to accept Sameer’s argument and explains why he plays along with his wife’s whims about Mohit. “Aakhir humara astitva sayambhu toh nahi hota na? Ek doosre ki ichchaon ke liye hi to jeete hain hum, aur kya zaroori hai ki ichcha ka koi sharir bhi ho?’’
Normally one would label the Singhs mentally ill but the play urges you to buy their argument and you actually do. Based on a Marathi play called Dhyanimani, the Hindi version has been written by Prashant Dalvi. Shah is a dream to watch and Karmarkar scores as the supportive husband. Bas Itna Sa Khwab gives you many genuinely teary moments, so keep the tissues handy.
Bas Itna Sa Khwab will be staged on Aug 29 at Manik Hall, Bandra (6137-8315) at 8 pm