The big question that children's theatre in Mumbai often grapples with is whether to use a play's running time to entertainingly present real ideas and authentic emotions to a young audience, with all the power and immediacy of live theatre, or whether to merely create a two-hour amusement-park ride of little follies that recklessly push the buttons of kiddie indulgence all at once. Productions from last year's Prithvi Summertime (now re-christened Arts at Play with Junoon), like Hidayat Sami's PETER PAN and Bijon Mondal's QUIXOTIC WONDERLAND, walked the tightrope rather well, if a tad precariously. This year, we've had plays veer to either extreme, with BOY WITH A SUITCASE speaking to all ages in compelling fashion, even as Makrand Deshpande's TIME BOY remains mired in the realm of the juvenile.
Treading the middle path, Sumeet Vyas and Shivani Tanksale's JUNGLE BOOK, from the Rangbaaz theatre company, manages to keep its head resolutely above water. Amping up the fun quotient is its primary function, but as the stage opens to an invitingly green wilderness, created almost entirely out of painted umbrellas (the set design is by Sunil Pandit), there are sensory pleasures to be had along the way that allows the play to just about transcend the limitations of its genre. When the acting suffers from broad strokes, there are always experienced hands around to steer the theatre away from the cartoonish to the layered, and the joie de vivre on stage compensates for whatever quibbles one might have with this adaptation of the much-loved classic by Rudyard Kipling.
This is probably one of the rare attempts to bring The Jungle Book to the Indian stage, where it rightfully belongs, given its Indian setting, and therefore ambition is a pre-requisite. The directors underline (and justify) this belated homecoming by distributing Indian languages amongst the animal-kind who roam the jungle. This proves to be a master-stroke. The myriad tongues of the jungle are given an earthy pan-Indian flavor. The musical interludes (arranged by Mr Vyas) also follow this pattern. When Tabaqui the jackal disrupts a discordant jungle council, the language of confrontation between him and the wolves is a racuous qawwali. The bandar-log are khaki-shorted, and vultures trade comical asides in the delectable style of Lucknawi Muslims. When Mowgli (Mayur More) takes his first tentative steps towards civilization, he is seduced by a lilting Bengali number performed by a young siren (Trisha Kale). All of it seems organic and appropriate, but sometimes the marriage of language and species strikes an awkward note, as in Baloo (Manoj Cherian) imparting his jungle wisdom to young Mowgli in stilted English that lacks any kind of colloquial edge.
While it is no stretch of imagination that the aerial role of the vine-entwined yellow python, Kaa would be performed by Faezeh Jalali, a rope-gymnast since her Tim Supple days, such a consideration can be sometimes limiting for an actress of her calibre. While comfortably going through her routine unharnessed, with streamers of glistening cloth standing in for rope, she makes the most of her cameo by infusing the usually leisurely paced Kaa with a lot of animation and an unmistakable allure, especially in the rousing ditty 'My Name is Kaa' which has the personality of an old-style production number replete with arabesque belly dancers and an orchestral overload.
The stars of the show are Umesh Jagtap, Sarang Sathaye and Abhay Mahajan, who play the bandar-log with delicious elan and great comic timing. They improvise with confidence, ad-lib with impunity, and generally go about the business of scene-stealing with almost careless casualness. Mr Jagtap is, of course, a seasoned actor who brings stature to what is essentially a bufoon's part, but the others (Mr Sathaye especially) keep pace with him throughout. When they double up as puppeteers manning the vultures, glib talkers that they are, looking to swoop down any moment for the scavengers' bounty, the three actors raise the entertainment quotient by several notches.
While the puppets by Pavitra Sarkar are delightful, the costume design for certain characters detract from their performances. Virendra Giri (as Shere Khan) stomps about in open-chested tiger-print tights that robs him of his elemental ferocity. Baloo's soft-toy look strips him of his gravitas. Bagheera has the accurate sleekness of a black panther and a feline deportment lived in by Muzammil Qureshi, but the part itself seems a little under-written. The central role of Mowgli is performed by Mayur More, who imbibes an appropriately feral quality to his performance. Although he has a definite stage presence he doesn't actually take control of the fiefdom at his disposal.
In order to bring out the conflicts simmering underneath the surface, with Mowgli's own identity always carrying a giant question-mark, Mr More would need to layer his character more adequately. However, in being the eternal spectator rather than a prime mover, he serves as a perfect foil to members of the audience, allowing us to internalise the journey and take the dizzying ride with him in a dazzling close-up. One can only hope that this beguiling mix of elements that JUNGLE BOOK achieves, can be replicated with each passing performance.
List Your Play