An engrossing storyline and contemporary issues come together to deliver a thoughtful and entertaining play, THE F WORD.
The play may give an impression that it may be one of those that are hastily cooked up to make a fast buck; it is far from it. For example, the various angles with which it treats the topic of therapy, shows that the writer of the play has distilled his lifetime's findings in the play. The play opens the Pandora's Box for those who have taken for granted that therapists know it all about mental health, depression and bad character. The dialogues expose the viewers to the many drawbacks that have come to diminish the halo of therapy on the couch.
On infidelity, differing circumstances on how it is dealt with are discussed. A one night stand by a wife that has almost brought the marriage to the breaking point, a marriage that outlives a loud extramarital affair, a divorce that happens because of a loss of job makes the play a near comprehensive treatment of the subject.
The actors are perfect in their parts. Akash Khurana enacts different shades of emotions throughout the play. Siddharth Kumar looks and performs his part of a narrow minded son. Malaika Choudhury is given a very complex range of dialogues and emotions to perform. She performs it exceedingly well. The only way it can improve for her is to look a little more depressive but how this can be done with all the chirpy dialogues is something that we can't be too sure of. Garima Yajnik plays the part of a friendly and mildly seductive girl very well. Both the female actors bring suitable glamour value. It can be said that all the actors fit very well in their roles. The subtle humour also works well.
While the play would be suitable for all ages, the title would perhaps restrict the reach rather than helping generate the initial attraction because that anyway comes from several other aspects popular theme, track record of the group, loyal audience base, etc.
(Tarun Agarwal is the author of a book, Hope Factory. He is the director a short film, Honesty Weds Dishonesty. He sees reviews as an art as much as an assessment of art.)
