Saurabh Shukla brings chilling Barff to Bengaluru

One of India’s all-time favourite screen and stage actors, Saurabh Shukla is back in Bengaluru with another critically-acclaimed play. Barff takes the audience to a cold, snowy night in Kashmir. But the plot is not one that traces a militant attack in the Valley, nor it is a political account of what has been happening there over the past decades. Instead, Saurabh, who has written and directed the play, narrates a human story — one of pathos and the psychological burden that the people in Kashmir bear.

An engrossing thriller, Barff follows the life of “the desperate parents of an ailing child and an unsuspecting doctor, and how they get caught in the whirlwind of the conflicting questions of truth, reality and belief”. The play “addresses the proverbial ‘crisis’ that sets in in people’s life, almost unannounced, and refuses to nudge away”. An AGP World presentation, the play also features versatile actors Sadiya Siddiqui and Sunil Kumar Palwal. It is scheduled to take place at

Chowdiah Memorial Hall

on January 13. The proceeds from the show will go towards the education of children in rural India.

“Barff is a rare kind of play. It’s a thriller that recreates a snow-clad Kashmir on stage. The set design, lighting, background score and other elements work in tandem with the theme of the narrative. The visual quality and choice of music speak of the craftsmanship employed in devising the piece,” says Saurabh, adding, “Although, there is no word of politics in the play, it is an underlying element that runs through the narrative. Usually, people from strife-ridden regions don’t actually open up or like to talk about what they are going through. They converse, laugh and go about their daily life as if nothing has gone wrong. But the psychological impact of conflict is much more than what appears on the surface. Your truth might be very different from somebody else’s truth. Barff debates this question, but in a sublime manner.”
Last year, the National Award-winning actor had enthralled Bengalureans with his popular play 2 To Tango 3 To Jive. Thrilled to be back in the city again, Saurabh says, “I am always excited to come back to Bengaluru. It isn’t always that you get to perform for an audience that understands and appreciates every nuance of the art form.” Giving a peek into his future projects, the veteran actor-director says that he’s working on a slew of films that include Aadhaar and Pagalpanti.