In a first, Marathi play to have first show in city

Nagpur: There are two firsts to Marathi play ‘Ke Dil Abhi Bhara Nahin.’ It will open for the first time in the city on September 1 at Deshpande hall at 6pm. Also, for the first time two mega stars of Marathi stage and screen, Rima Lagoo and Vikram Gokhale, will be seen together on stage.
Both Lagoo and Gokhale had decided to stay away from theatre. “But when I heard this script, I thought I have to do this,” Gokhale told media at an interaction on Monday.
“I have watched Vikram perform on stage with a lot of awe. So there was no way I would miss this opportunity to act with him,” Lagoo said.
Explaining the Hindi title, director Mangesh Kadam felt the audience would understand how apt it is towards the end. “We all were unanimous about it,” he said.
Both actors said that they had consciously decided to have the opening show in Nagpur. “The audience here is very appreciative. The constant complaints are that all big plays open in Mumbai and Pune. So we decided to start off with Nagpur this time,” said Rima.
Written by Shekhar Dhavalikar, the drama deals with the life of a couple in its twilight years. “These days we either have the affluent or the poor ones. The middle class seems to have disappeared from the literary narrative. But this story deals with their concerns and all age groups will connect with it,” Rima said.
Sharing his experience of working with the two veteran actors, Kadam said the drama had a strong story and weighty dialogues. “There is a lot of precision and a lot is said through few words. It was a challenge to bring this story to life for me too,” he added. Produced by Suyog Parivar, the play will have two more shows on September 2 and 3 at Deshpande hall.