Khurana switches medium, to present a play in Hindi

NAGPUR: With the theatre season on in full swing, the most consistent name on the circuit is in experimental mode.
Vikash Khurana, and his company Stagecraft, is all set to debut with his first Hindi play. Known for the adaptation of English classics, mostly Shakespeare, Khurana will be presenting the Hindi version of the famous play 'Ashi Pakhare Yete', written by the famous playwright Vijay Tendulkar some 40 years back.
Titled 'Panchi Aise Aate Hain', the play will be staged on November 18 and 19 at Khurana's regular place, the JR Shaw IMA auditorium.
Khurana says that he and his team are working hard to impress. "This is the first time that we are presenting a Hindi play. Of course there were many requests but most of all we wanted to break the perception of snobbery that usually surrounds a company that dabbles in English theatre."
The switch is quite a big one. For one Vikash has selected one of the most celebrated plays in Marathi, the Hindi version of which was produced and directed by Sataydev Dubey. "Actually that is my comfort zone. I was a production assistant when Dubeyji had presented this play way back in 1981, with the title 'Mat Yaad Dila'. I had been planning to adapt an Indian playwright's work for long. Somehow doing an English play written by an Indian playwright did not quite gel so I chose to keep Hindi the medium this time. I was looking at plays written by Mahesh Elkunchwar and also Mahesh Dattani. But since I have done 'Pratibimb' by Elkunchwar previously in 1998 and that too in Hindi, this time I selected Tendulkar," he says.
"This is a brilliant work by the writer, still so relevant and almost lyrical. My brother Akash had played a part in the Hindi adaptation then and he had this script lying with him. I took it from him and spoke to Tanuja Tendulkar Mohite, youngest daughter of Tendulkar and she was excited about the play being done again. Dubeyji had staged it at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai so here in Nagpur I have had to change the dynamics of the play as we do not have a similar circular auditorium."
The script revolves around a middle-class family and their very ordinary concerns. Having worked on extremely melodramatic and theatrical English classics so far, Khurana is aware of the pitfalls when dealing with this one. "The play is a very sensitive portrayal of a middle class family. It has a tremendous cinematic appeal. My challenge is to keep that ethos and not reduce the characters to mere caricatures. My effort will be to break the stereotypes of regional theatre. So I am trying to keep it understated and reduce the physicality of the drama."
The fine diction and subtle nuances are top priority for Khurana. "The actors Varun Vij, Anurag Kulkarni, Sunita Kulkarni, Shweta Puranik Pendse are all working on their accent and emotions to give their best. But what I am truly looking forward to is a new set of audience. I am treating this as a learning experience and want the audience to be my critics," he says.