SAKUBAI

SAKUBAI has actor Sarita Joshi delivering a dramatic monologue as a common working woman, hailing from one of the lowest rungs of urban India. She is projected as the good old kaamwali bai, an indispensable figure in an average household of our cities and towns.

Babbar's Sakubai is a woman who puts on a brave face despite every trouble that comes her way. She finds her solace in managing her mistresse's household efficiently and in narrating the story of her life to the audience in front of her.

The flip side of this play is the troublesome characterization of Sakubai who is looked through the lens of a certain bourgeoise kind of an ideology. She is typically typecast as a down-trodden "poor" soul who has been raped, whose husband is good for nothing and blah blah blah...

On a more positive note, is the solo performance by Sarita Joshi. As an accomplished Gujarati stage actor, Joshi knows the right strings to pull and has the ability to display a range of emotions. The audience in general loves her as she leads them as Sakubai who as the credo of the play goes is capable of- "cleaning houses, cleaning hearts". And true, the experience stops just there. There is no cleansing or purging that takes place as the drama of Sakubai does not lend itself to any sort of catharsis.