Theatre Buzz: Dehell

Yeh kahaani sunoge toh dil dehel jayega. Aisa tootega, ki phir na sambhal paayega.

Pune was plagued by a kidnapping case in August last year, the terror of which continued till February this year. But this case was unusual
according to the police. Because every fact of the case was related to one word. Pluto.

Who is Pluto? Why is he terrorising the city? 'Dehell', an all-new (fictional) Hindi

play

— a whodunit penned by

Gourav Upasani

and presented by theatre group

Uttejanaa

, promises to bring murder and mystery to the stage like never before. “The idea behind venturing into the genre was to put up an intense drama with a fast-paced narrative. It’s a humble attempt to make theatre more cinematic,” says Gourav, co-founder of Uttejanaa, who debuts as director with 'Dehell'.

The genre came with its share of challenges. “The largest difficulty was to create drama through words and not visuals. The script has huge scope for grand visual treatment because of it’s cinematic content, but that was difficult to replicate on stage,” recalls Gourav.

While the play cast largely comprises seasoned actors from Pune’s experimental theatre circuit (the likes of Akshay Mande, Shalvi Boralkar, Rucha Shrikhande, Siddha Andhale, Ashish Salunkhe and Prashant Yadav), the team also believes in encouraging new talent. Dehell will also feature newcomers Purnesh Patidar, Ajinkya Upasani and Madhawa Navkar.

While the audience can definitely expect a spine-chilling story, Gourav insists that the play’s USP lies in its fast-paced narrative. “More importantly, the play has a strong social message which is revealed towards the end,” says Gourav.
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