Theatre Review: The Bureaucrat

Play : The Bureaucrat
Directed by : Rahul da Cunha
Duration : 105 minutes
Cast : Bugs Bhargava Krishna, Aseem Hattangady, Anu Menon, Jaswinder Singh & others
Rating : 4
Till the time misfortunes like corruption, scams, morchas and scandals plague our great country, writers are going to have lots of content to take inspiration from.
After all, be it cinema, theatre or stand-up comedy, satire has now become one of the trendiest and most enjoyed genres.And when you combine satire with the most pressing national issues, you’re bound to get a witty political masterpiece. Just like The Bureaucrat, a satire that captures the incomprehensible spirit of ‘India Shining’ today.
The play opens in a dingy basement, in the Home Minister’s office, focussing on the protagonist Raghuvir Gupta, an ageing bureaucrat. Though he’s seen a lot of political disturbances during his time, today he’s reduced to being a diminutive character in the government office. While he’s basking in the glory of past achievements, one day, he’s suddenly summoned by the Home Minister to solve a national crisis. Not because they realise how important he is to their governance; because the bureaucrat’s own estranged son, VJ Dhishoom is the cause of all the mayhem! The play unveils what happens next, because of the bureaucrat’s personal and professional predicament.
The Bureaucrat very cleverly takes glimpses of the past (read: government scandals) and jumbles them with the current generation’s reference points — the Anna Hazare movement and the rising role of social networking sites — often showing them as powerful social tools. Through VJ Dhishoom’s silly ‘Kapde Utaro morcha,’ it ingeniously touches upon every youth’s patriotic dream — being the change that they want to see in the country.
Be it the fraudulent caterer-turned-minister, his ditzy but highly ambitious secretary, the VJ who’s staging a comeback to revive his flagging career, or the disillusioned bureaucrat himself, you’re going to relate to all the characters (with some commendable performances) and their underhand deeds. Intermittently, insolent gags on libidinous Jaats and the idiocy of media and pop culture, provide enough gags throughout the show! A worthy watch for the classes.