In India, it's fair to say that your house help can be your lifeline. You're pushed into a quandary in their absence. And in this bittersweet relationship, you accept each other's eccentricities.
But what happens when your help is no longer just the caretaker of the house, but also of your life? Dictating terms where the furniture should be placed to who your soul-mate should be or not be. The answers can be found in Theatrewalas' comical drama OCD, written and put together on stage by Rohit Tiwari, who also plays the role of the obsessive-compulsive-disorderhelp/ 'freak'- 'OC Chacha'
The story is set in an immaculate house belonging to Rohan (Aman Uppal), a handsome and affluent businessman in his late twenties. It begins with a not-so-clean version of its near past when on the second day of the new year, with leftovers of trash and friends sprawled around, Rohan receives a letter from OC-Chacha (the 'one') of his arrival in the coming week. From the letter we learn that Rohan is in fact of royal blood, his father being the Late Shri Rao Ratan Singh of Rajaurgarh, with whom Rohan had broken off ties long ago. On the death of his father, Rohan had sold his ancestral fort and had taken in OC-Chacha into his humble flat in Mumbai.
And even though OC-Chacha's obsession with cleanliness is well known (the driver Charles only calling him 'saaf-safai)', nothing prepares Rohan for all the bizarreness that is to follow. Chacha does everything in odd numbers, arranges the furniture in their appropriate angels to one another, indulges in a long routine of checks before opening the door and above all, he cannot stand bad grammar. But things take a turn for the worse when Chacha's obsession slowly includes keeping 'Rohan-Baba-Sir' away from his crush 'Kavita' (Saloni Batra) since "women are the root cause of all evil."
The play maintains a light-hearted and uncomplicated tone - having comical bits sprinkled throughout; in the banter between Rohan and his friends or in the nearly-heated exchanges between Chacha and everyone else. However, in its short 70 minutes, the story loses its pace with the frequent blackouts and scene changes that break the rhythm and become a distraction. The characters though are believable, with Rohit Tiwari easily essaying the role of the quirky servant. Both Saloni Batra and Devyani Dagaonkar were a delight as they brought out the personalities of the commitment phobic girl and the immature youngster effortlessly.
Towards the end, the conflict between the master and the servant peaks when the latter sabotages Rohan's plans to propose his love Kavita. But an emotional monologue delivered by Chacha triumphs the anger, as he reveals the reason that made him the way he is. While hidden truths of Rohan's past are disclosed, OC-Chacha tries hard to make sense of all the insanity.
But it is here that the play goes into a kind of mix-messaging, trying to justify the servant's quirkiness and at the same time delving into a moral-questioning-spat of what's really normal and abnormal. "We are all freaks, just the degrees vary. Every individual in this world has some or the other quirky habit, but he or she feels that the other person is weird," says OC- Chacha. Though logical, the words and examples lack depth and don't hit home. Instead, they come across as a shoddy and hurried attempt to wrap up the loose ends. If a little more time was spent in establishing these multiple messages, the play would succeed in providing the audience with something substantial to think about. Nonetheless, OCD is a simple yet affable story of love, friendship, loyalty and all the absurdity in between and leaves you amused in its 'happily ever after' tale.
*Shonita Joshi is a freelance journalist with a wide array of interests. She has a major in Economics and Banking and has done her post-graduation in Journalism. - See more at: http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/reviews/14-hindi-play-review-yeh-hai-bombay-meri-jaan.asp#sthash.qYzWqM01.dpuf
