UCHAL Play Review

Deepa Karmalkar	Host-A-Performance \| Schedule

Writer : Abhay Nawathe Direction : Dr. Shweta Pendse

UCHAL Review

This isn't an easy watch, not a play you can sit back and relax. Not a comforting entertainer, not at all! In fact, it is a gasping-for-survival tale of farm laborers in drought stricken areas. It will nudge you, shake you and finally make you choke up with emotion on the harsh realities of life. It is sharp conscience-pricking tale. It's bitter but it's a pill we must swallow for the times we live in, where the chasm between the rich and poor is vast and the suffering – so relentless.

Staged at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2025, Uchal, which translates as 'to pick, refers to the debt that the laborers take and toil lifelong to repay it. A TV reporter in a sugarcane field with the owner and laborers gathered for lunch break makes for a pleasant start of the play. Women are busy rolling and patting the dough into bhakris, they are chatting playfully, suddenly Suma staggers in, she is writhing in pain, holding her abdomen. Her friend, Sangi helps her out while the elderly women lament about her ill health. To add to her woes, her husband dies in a mishap. Widowed, left to fend for her three kids, with the agonizing lower belly pain – Suma decides to rid herself of the pain with hysterectomy. She also convinces Sangi to go for it. When the uterus becomes a burden, it is indeed a sad situation for a woman and her family as well But the moot question is will the surgery save her from the lashings of poverty, will it safeguard her from the lustful advances of her father in law? Will Suma and Sangi be able to break the vicious circle of debt and suffering with hysterectomy alone?

Writer Abhay Nawathe pitches forth a strong case, director Shweta Pendse keeps the audience involved in the tragic tale. The actors bring alive the pathos of poverty and twinkling of hope and cheer amidst it all. The backdrop of sugarcane fields stands tall as a bright spot while the stage lighting buoys up the narrative.

The play may disturb you, but it does well to create empathy about these desperate women trapped in poverty and hardships. It is a wakeup call for all of us, to initiate policy changes through democratic apparatus. More power to this issue-based play which in no way is disguised poverty porn.Bottom of Form

(Deepa Karmalkar is a senior journalist, features writer and reviewer who is now a keen yoga trainer.)

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