Direction : Anupam Barve Writer : Yasmina Reza Cast : Sayalee Phatak, Tanvi Kulkarni, Siddhesh Dhuri & Niranjan Pedanekar
UCHHAAD Review
Adapted from Yasmina Reza's French play GOD OF CARNAGE, Niranjan Pedanekar's Marathi adaptation UCHHAAD is the story of two couples who meet one evening at one of their homes to find a resolution to a fight their children recently had at school.
While conversation starts out civilly, the couples soon begin to argue over a range of topics including marriage, the roles of husbands and wives in raising children, work, respecting ethics at work and morality.
As the evening progresses and the arguments become more intense, Mayur, one of the husbands, brings out a bottle of whiskey and they all proceed to drink. Loosened by alcohol, they forget all sense of propriety, arguments devolve into quarrels and finally, a full-fledged fight.
At one point, Aniruddha the other husband - says how the one true God that he believes in, is the God of Carnage - from where the title of the original play comes - because a person is the most genuine version of themselves when they are violent, and free of societal constraints. That is perhaps one of the themes the play tries to address - who we are as humans and whether the norms society makes us adhere to are in line with the natural order.
Aniruddha also says something else during the evening: While the couples are discussing activism and social justice warriors, he says the cultivated middle class turns into activists only when it doesn't inconvenience them. In fact, they engage in activism not for the sake of the underprivileged, but for their own sakes, so that they might feel some sort of satisfaction out of helping the needy. He calls it 2 pm-4 pm activism - referring to the little amount of time such an activist might dedicate to the cause, then conveniently going back to their normal life.
And perhaps, this can be extrapolated to the play itself. While there are many themes the play is trying to address, really it is a 90-minute escapade for the audience, where they watch these characters argue, drink, curse, fight, and joke around, laugh with them and at them and then go back to their lives, their views about life and society largely unchanged.
And that is not taking away from the play at all. In fact, it is what strengthens the play. Plays need not always affect your views in a lasting manner. Sometimes, they are just wonderful character studies. UCHHAAD is one of those plays where the plot points are not as important as the characters, which have been beautifully mapped out: the principled and cultivated Vanita, her meek and depressed husband Mayur, cynical and self-aware Aniruddha and his bold but frustrated wife Anisha. To top it off, the four actors have done a great job with their roles, each character truly believable in their arcs and within the ever-changing dynamics of harmony and animosity between the four as the evening progresses.
Throughout the play, the dialogue flows seamlessly, the conversation not seeming forced even once, like you are truly sitting with four people, a little tired of their own lives, a little tired of each other, just having it out in a home in Mumbai. The topics of conversation are serious, but the play is not without comedy: as the couples' emotional fatigue grows, they become more savage, and therefore, abundantly funnier. Worth watching this play for 90 very enjoyable minutes of great acting, conversation, and cheeky humor.
*Neha Shende is an avid theatre-goer and enjoys watching old Bollywood movies in her free time.
