DUBHANG Play Review

Neha Shende	Host-A-Performance \| Schedule

Direction : Dipti Pranav Joshi Cast : Pranav Joshi

DUBHANG Review

DUBHANG is a solo, one-act play that takes place during one evening, where a famous actor-producer from the Hindi film industry comes home to find his wife missing. A solo act means the audience is left with one actor for the entire duration of the play. This necessitates that the actor in question is not just a good actor but can hold your attention with a strong stage presence. Unfortunately, Pranav Joshi, who plays the role of Anil "the actor-producer" is neither great with the lines, nor exudes the charm that such a performance demands.

It is a meaty concept: the play that credits Dr. Sameer Mone as having adapted the play, seemingly from the Nargis-Sunil Dutt love story, showcases an evening in the actor's life where after his wife apparently goes missing, the actor wonders anxiously about where she could have been, reminisces about "and also narrates to the audience" their romantic history, how they met and fell in love, the various ups and downs of their glamorous lives and the scandals and controversy that accompany it. This storyline in the hands of a strong actor, even while very familiar to audiences, could have been entertaining.

It feels, however, like Joshi takes the gravity of the story a little too seriously and acts a little too hard for any of it to seem believable or for the build-up to the 'big reveal' to feel natural. It is a constantly high-octane, melodramatic performance that badgers the senses and eventually numbs you to the storyline, which means you don't feel much for the character or his difficult circumstance.

There were some especially jarring moments: the actor is supposed to be Punjabi, but the entire play is in Marathi; and this is not an issue in itself. Except, only one line from one of the voiceovers "where all other lines are in Marathi" is quite arbitrarily, in Punjabi. When the actor finally gets news of his wife's possible whereabouts, he inexplicably starts drinking alcohol. And while this is explained away as "actor behavior", considering the previous context of how anxious the man has been to get news of his wife, this writing choice is so poor, it's comical. The play ends with a bandish, the lyrics of which seem to have no relation to the actor's present situation and only seems to have been added because it is the raag Bhairav and may have been thought as creating an appropriately mournful atmosphere.

The performance would benefit from toning down the constant melodrama and providing some breathing space to the audience.

*Neha Shende is an avid theatre-goer and enjoys watching old Bollywood movies in her free time.

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