A great curtain-raiser

Theatre enthusiasts made it a full house at Vasantrao Deshpande hall on Thursday evening as they gathered to watch the play 'Where did I leave my Purdah' written by Mahesh Dattani and directed by Lillete Dubey. The play was the first presentation of the three-day Times Nagpur Festival.
A Primetime Production, 'Purdah' charts the life of an actress and her obsession with her art.The story moves from Lahore to Mumbai and unravels the life of Nazia saheba and her Shakuntala fixation. It is through the mythological tale of Dushyant and Shakuntala that the complicated love life of Nazia emerges. The story gets exquisitely etched on stage through some fine acting by Soni Razdan, Neha Dubey - who plays the young Nazia with panache - and the winsome Sid Makkar as Suhail. Lillete as Nazia breathes life into the complex character. Her light hearted banter punctuated by intense sentimental outbursts give a feel of the real person that lies beneath the frivolity which she projects.
'Purdah' spans over four decades and has an intensely emotional storyline. Yet, it retains a frothy flavour as the Dubeys, both senior and junior, do a fine balancing of emotions. The costumes too help in creating the right look - dramatic, period and contemporary. The complex story is intricately woven around a drama within a drama and leaves the audience soaked in emotions which brim over from the melodramatic life of Nazia.
Soni Razdan as Ruby delights with her matter-of-fact act and the underplayed emotions as she discovers her identity.
The play which was staged without an intermission held the attention of the viewers as it moved with élan from one time period to another and from drama to reality with the help of appropriate light and sound effects. The quiet ease with which the scenes shifted locations kept the narrative going.
Purdah is a polished act delivered by some of the finest names in theatre today. Even as the curtains came down, the audience was left wanting more.