Shikhandi – a blend of Indian storytelling with contemporary English verses

Written and directed by

Faezeh Jalali

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Shikhandi: The Story of the In-Betweens

' is a tongue-in-cheek retelling of the story of Shikhandi, who is one of the first examples of a transgender characters in Indian mythology.

Shikhandi

played a crucial part in Mahabharta during the winning of the Pandavas at the battle of Kurukshetra. Meant to be born male to avenge an insult in her past life as Amba she is reborn female, raised male, has a sex change on her wedding night when she runs away to the forest (thanks to a Yaksha), and finally fulfills her destiny - to be the cause of Bhishma's death.
The play is a comic, tongue-in-cheek, retelling of the story of Shikhandi, mixing traditional Indian storytelling and contemporary English verse, and questioning gender, sexuality, maleness, femaleness and everything in between.

A brave story to be staged it questions the traditional roles of gender, identity and sexuality by blending Indian storytelling with contemporary English verses. The play which stars Meher Acharia-Dar, Srishti Shrivastava, Mahnaz Damania, Nikhil Murali, Tushar Pandey, NakulBhalla, Karan Desai, Vikrant Dhote, Kartavya Anthwal Sharma and Abhishek Chauhan has received rave reviews ever since it was premiered in March last year. It has so far travelled all over India covering areas such as Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Goa apart from Mumbai.