JUST DON'T DO IT is as convoluted as a comedy of errors can get. The play, written and directed by Iqbal Raj, has the usual elements - the young couple presumably madly in love, the glowering father, the easy-to-please mother, the fumbling servant - but it also has a couple of interesting here-and-now characters. A sexpert, suspiciously inspired by a sex counsellor who writes a regular column in a Mumbai tabloid, and a dial-a-quote type socialite, add the necessary zing to the bedroom comedy that's played out in a bare drawing room.
There are so many twists and turns in the plot that it's actually difficult to describe the play in brief. Broadly speaking,JUST DON'T DO IT is based on the conflict between an orthodox and autocratic district collector, JK Varma (Iqbal Raj) and his US-returned daughter, who wishes to lose her virginity with parental consensus. The play opens with a scene between Varma and his servant, Supandi Kaka (Nayan Chandan), who in his enthusiasm to speak in English, utters literal translations of Hindi phrases because within his "souls" he is "the Englishman." Their infantile conversation elicits a few laughs from the audience and leads into the next scene with Varma's wannabe wife Monica (Nutan Raj).
The customary husband-wife banter happens next. When the collector scores a point, the men in the audience can't suppress a laugh and when Monica shows her husband who the boss is, the women giggled along. It's only when Varma's officialese-speaking junior colleague Adarsh (Pramod Singh) comes on stage that the laughs get really loud. During their conversation Monica lets it slip that their daughter Shelly (Rohini Bannerji) will be arriving with her boyfriend Atom (Aditya Mathur) and the two will be staying together.
The daughter arrives with boyfriend in tow. Varma is not happy with the goings-on and hilarious arguments ensue. Finally, Varma colludes with Supandi Kaka to come up with a plan to prevent his daughter from losing her virginity before marriage, that too to a man he considers a good-for-nothing. Being a senior government officer Varma holds the key to Adarsh's future. Hence the hapless junior is forced to masquerade as the sexpert- Dr Srivats who is to convince the young couple that pre-marital sex is not a good idea. In this situation arrives Shabnam, a patent page three celebrity, who is looking for Dr Srivats. Shabnam (Aban Deohans) and Adarsh, aka Dr Srivats, fall in love at first sight and the ensuing confusion is a mad caper that has the audience knotting up in laughter.
Watch the play to find out what happens to the multiple love stories that are brewing on stage.Among the cast members, Pramod Singh is brilliant as the jargon spewing government official. Learning those long-winded lines must not have been an easy task and excusing his not-so-confident stage presence, he deserved the loud applause he received. Aban Deohans was charming as the class conscious, superficial celebrity.
The focus of the team is to clearly make sure that the audience has a good time and leaves the theatre sporting a wide grin. The stage is bare and the light changes rather abrupt. But if you manage to ignore these issues, this laugh-a-minute comedy is rather enjoyable.
*Charulata enjoys watching theatre, and writing about it.
