It was a long time that I was seeing a play. The last one I saw was at Shophia a year or so back.
I am a play enthusiast. I have been rejected in auditions. And I have directed a full-length play.
MERA WHO MATLAB NAHIN THA at St Andrews Audotorium ( first timers need to search though lanes) ) to watch Anupum Kher and Neena Gupta with family was a good decision.
The story is simple. Two lovers who could not marry, meet after 35 years. They both blame each other, but somewhere they doubt if the other person is to blame? after 35 years Pritam ( Anupum Kher ) and Hmea ( Neena Gupta ) meet at Lodhi Garden. It is near to his house and people in the park know him. They are trying to find answers to the questions.
It is layered past that they very transparently open up for discussion. Perspectives change. The equations are redrafted and resultant emotions redefined. It is a story about relationships, misunderstandings and our awkwardness in dealing with the truth
If Anupum Kher is good at his act, Neena Gupta is brilliant.
She not only plays the lover who drifted away but also NIGAAR, Anupum’s late wife.
Rakesh Bedi ( Also the Director and writer of the play) as Anupum Kher’s nosy neighbor and a fellow jogger at the park makes few timely appearances to reboot the play.
I liked the use of Multimedia in creating those shared flashbacks and the conversation Pritam has with his wife Nigaa’s brother Kaddu Bhai ( Satish Kaushik). There is an element of wickedness that Satish brings into the play is a relief when emotions start running wild and dry.
It is a story of drifted love, parental blackmail and letters that fail to find their addressees. Everything is there, Marriage, political agenda, one-sided love affair and Criminal intent. . And yet everything looks completely justified. Maybe we are so numbed with such happening that we consider this normal. What the play shows is more normal than rare. All unfolds before you and the only way to correct the situation seems the use of potent with ‘Mera Who Matlab Nahin Tha’
GO WATCH IT. BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
Do not go will hyper expectations. You evening not waste your evening on a weekend, but it is not the top-top league of plays that I have seen. Sincerely, MERA WHO MATLAB NAHIN THA.
Play: Mera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha Director: Rakesh Bedi Duration: 110 minutes Cast: Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Rakesh Bedi, Satish Khaushik and other’s Language: Hindi
