FOR their most ambitious production till date, city-based theatre group ‘D for Drama’ has decided to adapt renowned humorist Harishankar Parsai’s ‘Ek Film Katha’ and bring the story to life on stage.
The play ‘Golden Jubilee’, the stage adaptation of Parsai’s satirical take on the Hindi cinema of the seventies, not just lends itself to an entertaining musical but also celebrates the nostalgia associated with the movies and matinee idols of that period.
Talking about the process of putting together this production, Saurabh Nayyar, co-founder of the theatre group and director of Golden Jubilee, said: “The play intends to take a fun look at the 70s cinema for entertainment. For this production, I developed Parsai-ji’s short story into a full-fledged play. The narrator in the play mostly uses the author’s lines. Rest of the play, including dialogues and songs, are written by me.”
The story talks about certain situations that follow as a writer narrates a film’s story to an actor, whose popularity is on the decline. As the writer promises that this film would bring the actor back in the game, the latter imagines himself playing out those scenarios on the big screen as well as ruling the box-office again.
“The play recreates several stock scenes that were part of formulaic Hindi films. For example, when the protagonist is ailing, the heroine sings to Bhagwan (god) for his well-being and that works.”
Most of the situations mentioned in Parsai’s story have been fleshed out in the play and some new characters have also been introduced.
While working on the adaptation, Nayyar first wrote the songs. There are seven songs in the play composed by Shridhar Nagraj and their music is inspired by the popular compositions by OP Nayyar and RD Burman. With over 20 members in the team, the play has two professional singers apart from the singer-actors in the cast and musicians.
“The audience, especially those belonging to the 60-plus age group, will love the songs in Golden Jubilee,” says Nayyar, who started his theatre journey in Jabalpur with musical plays. He has also been part of two popular musical dramas — Piya Behrupiya and Stories in a Song.
The play tries to be true to the sensibilities of the 70s’ by incorporating the vibes of that period in costume and storytelling. “There used to be an endearing simplicity in the cinema then. Even the romance in those days reflected that. For example, in Mere Mehboob (1963), love flourishes when the lead characters accidentally collide and their books fall down,” said Nayyar. The play makes use of shadow puppetry to create visual effects.
The play received a warm response during its recent run at the Prithvi Theatre. Golden Jubilee will now be staged at Sophia Bhabha Auditorium at 7.30pm on June 10. Tickets are available on bookmyshow.com
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner have agreed to terms of a divorce settlement after a four-month court battle, multiple sources confirmed to Fox News Dig
Gisele Bündchen is reflecting on how her divorce from former NFL player Tom Brady deeply impacted their family. The Brazilian supermodel admitted it was extre
Blink-182 , Announces New Album. The pop punk band will release their first stud
Just before performing his famous moonwalk dance for the first time, Michael Jackson tossed his hat to the side of the stage. Four decades later, it's up for au
