Romance, murder, deceit and suspense– Play 'Detective Nau Do Gyarah' had it all

A gripping tale,

Detective Nau Do Gyarah

, directed by Atul Kumar was brought to stage on day three of the Jairangam Festival at Madhyavarti of Jawahar Kala Kendra in Jaipur. The winter chill didn’t stop theatre lovers who came in huge numbers to watch the play at the open-air auditorium.

Niketan Sharma as Shekhar Kumar and Anna Ador as Nalini D'Souza enacting a scene from the play (Shalini Maheshwari/BCCL)

The story, which takes place in the alleys of Bombay of the 1940s and 50s begins with psychiatrist, Dr Shekhar Kumar(portrayed by Niketan Sharma) who takes a trip to Bombay to watch a mentalist perform at the iconic

Royal Opera House

. During the show, a lady (played by Anna Ador) who calls herself Nalini D’Souza, sits next to Shekhar and fires a gunshot in the air. The sudden gunshot interrupts the show and Nalini, a damsel in distress, pleads with Shekhar to help her as her life is in danger. She requests him to save her life by taking her to his house.

The chase sequence in the play was highly appreciated

At Shekhar’s apartment, Nalini tells him that she is on a mission to save the country from the enemies who are planning a massive destruction under a secret code, 9-2-11. However, before she could explain further, she is murdered by goons in Shekhar’s bedroom which lands him in trouble. The cops chase Shekhar, suspecting him to be the murderer, while Shekhar embarks on a roller-coaster ride of romance, murder, deceit and suspense as he tries to reveal the huge conspiracy against the country.

One of the scenes from the play

Each cast member played multiple characters and the goons resembled yesteryear villains – like Sudhir and Jeevan. One of the characters, Rosie, spoke all her dialogues in Meena Kumari style with a live Jazz band playing in the background. The chase sequence between the cops (essayed by Neil Bhoopalam and Sukant Goel) and Shekhar was especially appreciated by the audience.

Atul Kumar, the director of the play

“All the actors kept the momentum going with their energy, verve and perfect timing,” said Nikhil Tyagi, a theatre enthusiast and resident of Shashtri Nagar.