Inspired by Dharamvir Bharti's novel, Gunhao Ka Devta; a story about an unfinished amour between lovers Chander and Sudha, ICE, WATER VAPOUR, a Smokingod production is about Suketu, a well-known writer whose novel 'Niyati' isn't very well received by his readers. Of course, under the circumstances, the audience are to believe that 'Niyati' is actually Bharti's Gunhao Ka Devta as the two share the same story, and characters right down to names and references. But the similarities between the book and the play end there because the latter is a fictional account of how the writer might have been criticised after creating star-crossed lovers.
ICE, WATER VAPOUR - a very 'simple' story aims to get us thinking, but all it did was make my friend and me exchange our thoughts on my notepad, like naughty students in a really boring class. The play has three actors - Suketu (Avinash Tiwari) the writer, Anuradha (Minnakshi Das) his landlady's daughter, and Chander (Mohit Shrivastava), the original novel's main character. Anuradha falls in love with Suketu after reading his book but is rejected by Suketu. "Main ladki ke saath sex kar sakta hoon", shouts Suketu, but explains how his relationship with his mother has soured him towards women.
But when he starts receiving letters from Ayesha, a mysterious fan who adores his writing and claims to gaze into his soul through his novels, he finds himself falling in love with her. So cruel is he that he shares his elation with a visibly heartbroken Anuradha, even making her read Ayesha's letters out loud to him. The play does not end well, and the beginning, middle and end aren't good either.
Tiwari loves his vowels. "Tum soooochaaaa kab bandh karogiiii Anurahaaaaaa?"; "Dil yahiiiii hota. Aaathma yahiiii hoti."; "Kyaaaaaaa hota hain yeh prem?" If he has taken any acting lessons, he deserves a refund. Das is the worst performer I've seen in a long time, and completely undeserving of a leading role. She had no chemistry with Tiwari, and her acting is one dimensional. Shrivastava as Chander was pretty good though, delivering his well-enunciated lines in a slow, modulated voice. Unfortunately he only appears in three scenes throughout the play.
But you can't blame the actors for everything that goes wrong. The direction too has a part to play. With actors who cannot deliver their lines properly, long pauses isn't the way to go because it only makes the audience more aware of how badly everything is going.
The music, provided by a live acoustic guitarist, loaned nothing whatsoever to the performance. The guitarist, like the rest of us perhaps, couldn't feel for the proceedings on stage, and thus let his tunes blandly sound like elevator music - good enough to fill in the blank silence, but not powerful enough to stir any emotions.
Writer Ravikanth has tried really hard to make his play meaningful. Unfortunately, it is a complete cliche. If we want to be entertained by selfish men who can't love, and sacrificing women who would burn at the pyre for them, we'll just stay home and watch re-runs of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
