JAANE PEHCHAANE ANJANE Play Review

Tarun Agarwal	Host-A-Performance \| Schedule

Written and Directed : Gajendra Ahire Cast : Anupam Kher, Swaroop Sampat, Meghna Malik, Maya Sharma, Vikas Rawat, Shraddha Mandale & Herman DeSouza

JAANE PEHCHAANE ANJANE Review

It is clear that Gajendra Ahire has an extraordinary grip on contemporary human relations. He doesn't hold back in highlighting the uncomfortable and sordid truth of relationships. Through Swaroop Sampat, he relates the stories of countless women who have lived all their lives with philandering husbands, only to continue a life after them that's about witnessing her son undertaking the same. Through Meghna Malik we witness the life of a woman who loves her impotent husband helplessly. We see through Vikas Rawat how career moves decide who he is going to date or marry. Through Anupam Kher, we witness how love changes a person no matter what age it strikes.

As an actor and producer, Anupam Kher envisions a play that can get popular and attract large audiences. There isn't anything in the play that stops it from being widely watched, across the globe.

Swaroop Sampat steals the limelight in this play. She plays Vimal Desai, a woman who is supposed to sell her properties and join his son in the US, but decides to give up the commitment in the hope that Sudhir Pathak, played by Anupam Kher, will have the courage to start a relationship with her officially in India. This is the central plot of the play and it is well woven.

The actors all perform well. The bubbly character of Meghna Malik who is looking for men online makes for a good contrast to the serious nature of the central plot. Vikas Rawat easily blends into the role of a guy who has been in the US for a long time, a guy who is in demand amongst women and one who is a chauvinist when dealing with his mother.

Anu Malik substantially elevates the play with his music. The sets and costumes are very distinct and leave a memory of the moments in the play. All in all, it is an entertainer while also being hard-hitting wherever required. There are many humorous moments between Anupam Kher and Swaroop Sampat. Above all, the way Gajendra Ahire writes small nuances so well into the love story makes this a case study level script. Given the paucity of time, we can forgive the playwright for not straying into the flaws of the female gender in contemporary times and lets us think it is men who cause all the trouble!

(Tarun Agarwal writes books and makes podcasts.)

JAANE PEHCHAANE ANJANE Play Schedule(s)

7:30 Pm, Fri, July 31

NCPA - Jamshed Bhabha Theatre , Mumbai (map link)

Please click here for the preview of the play

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