Chaos in the courtroom

A courtroom drama is most often essayed in two formats — they are either a drag, where the audiences are in for a long wait before the verdict is announced, or it is a nail-biting series of sequences, peppered with thrills. Directed by Shaurya Singh, a Hindi adaptation of one of Vijay Tendulkar’s much-loved Marathi plays, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe, kept

theatre

lovers in the city glued to their seats for two hours over the weekend.

The play, Khaamosh! Adaalat Jaari Hai!, starts with a pursuit. It strives to fit in a social message in the context of a mock courtroom trial that, in the pretense of fiction, tries to rob a woman of every bit of dignity she has managed to bring back for herself after a tumultuous past. A certain school teacher, named Leela Benare (played by Rekha Rane), who has traveled to a suburban place with a theatre group to put up a performance of improvised dramatics, is infamous for the way she conducts herself among others, particularly in the company of men. She is ‘unduly’ chirpy, sarcastic and flirtatious, they say. Fiction merges with reality when she is prosecuted for real during a rehearsal round of the performance, for killing her ‘illegitimate’ unborn baby. The role of Sukhatme (played by Varun Kainth) is that of a sadistic lawyer, who gangs up on stage with other characters like Mr and Mrs Kashikar, Rokde, Ponkshe, Samant and Karnik, to purge the society of a ‘filth’ that Benare bai is. The use of closed doors and manhandling sequences add to the intensity of the play.

A nuanced storyline, flawless acting skills, thumping dialogues and an appropriate courtroom setup make the entire theatrical piece an engrossing performance. The protagonist, however, steals the show with a monologue, of sorts. It’s one of rumination, but makes you rethink the conduct of the so-called humanists in our society.

A Saarthak Productions presentation, the play is adapted by Deevas Gupta, while the actors include Deevas Gupta, Dimpy Fadhya, Mahipal Baid, Prakil Singh, Saurabh Soni, Vijay Ashok Sharma and Siddharth Shah.