Ancient lore has it that the King Veera Ballala II of the Hoysala Empire was out hunting in the forest when he lost his way and after much wandering, ran into an old forest-dwelling woman who fed him benda kalu or boiled beans, and on that day he named the spot Bendakaluru (city of baked beans), which eventually became the city of Bengaluru. This mythical story is the source behind BOILED BEANS ON TOAST (originally BENDA KAALU ON TOAST in Kannada), the latest play by Girish Karnad, one of India's foremost modern playwrights, author of celebrated plays like HAYAVADANA and YAYATI, and a Padma Bhushan recipient.
Bangalore, or Bengaluru as it is now called, is known for its massive cosmopolitan populace, its IT wallahs, pleasant weather, cheap beer and deadly traffic. But seldom have we seen or heard the stories of the average Bengaluru resident. A whole spectrum of the city's residents - housewives, the non-IT professionals, labourers, senior citizens, the expatriates and others never get spoken or written about much. Karnad's new drama revolves around the unsung tales of ordinary Bengaluru citizens and their struggles. The play's title borrows from a myth but signals a departure from Karnad's more famous plays steeped in historical and mythological themes.
Directed by Lilette Dubey, the opening show at the NCPA had a curious set consisting of Kannada film posters, a popular coffee shop sign board, some chic Fab India type home furniture and some other set pieces to provide a symbolic backdrop of the rarely seen side of the city of Bengaluru. Interesting as it was, the bulky and oddly angled set tended to flatten the stage and made no use of the Tata theatre's potential for depth, which was no doubt a conscious choice, but ended up causing the space to look cluttered and inhibited movement.
The play begins in the neat living room of the Padabidri family, where the prim and sophisticated forty-something Anjana Padabidri (Deepika Deshpande Amin) sits chatting with her snooty, queen's accent- sporting pal Kitty (Avantika Akerkar), as two maids run in and out of the room getting household chores done and serving them tea and snacks. As the two ladies discuss the sad plight of the cancer patients who are brought to the hospice Anjana volunteers for, their conversation is interrupted by the ringing of the door bell and the entry of Prabhakar, the jittery, awkward employee of Mr Padabidri who claims he has been called directly to the house for a meeting. As he waits, Prabhakar annoys the two ladies with his life story, his childhood in the Western Ghats and how, coming from a quiet area, he actually yearns for the rhythms of traffic, construction noises and large crowds in the city. Joy Sengupta plays Prabhakar with a silly but familiar mix of pride and desperation that perhaps marks the plight of the unhappily employed low-level IT employee.
Avantika Akerkar as the benevolent high-society lady who tries to later help Prabhakar with her IT industry "contacts"; "Azim and Yasmeen are close friends", but it turns out to be a hoax. Akerkar brings a piquant flavor and ease to her character but ends up as merely mischievous while the script seems to demand a more disturbing and vindictive woman.
The plot moves forward in a maze like shape with analogous subplots meeting and parting ways abruptly. This required smoother transitions between the scenes than the production could achieve. The very visible and noisy set-changes coupled with some confused exits and cues were distracting. But these are problems that can easily be worked out and would greatly benefit the overall quality of future shows of the play.
The story of the spunky and mercurial maid Vimala is thrilling. Vimla has worked in the house for eight years but is now under suspicion for having stolen from the house (and seems to be guilty too) with the help of a number of men who are all her "first cousins". The drama in her story presents the difficult lives of the city's domestic help. Morality and ethics take a backseat when one is forced with the basic task of sourcing the next day's meals.
Joy Sengupta impresses again. There is a stark contrast between the characters he plays, tackling the Tamil and Kannada accent efficiently. He manages well to extract meaning from even the few lines he speaks. Everyone in the cast plays more than one character.
Meenal Patel as the bored grandmother who becomes hooked to betting on horses at the Derby races (a favorite pastime of Bengaluru's wealthy), is funny in parts, but the character does not seem to have a strong place in the larger narrative and her portrayal suffers from this lack of a clear objective.
The play lets most of its conflicts stay unresolved and the story deliberately leaves you without a denouement. With its unusual mix of characters and intersecting plot lines, the play conveyed something of a sense of Bengaluru but the problem is just that - the story always remained at a very vague something that, at least in this production, did not carry enough merit on its own to prevent the exasperation arising out of the loose and untied ends.
*Saudamini Kalra is a student of theatre and occasionally a poet.
