Direction : Nitish Patankar Writer : Aaditya Modak Cast : Suyash Tilak, Rashmi Anapat, Vijay Patwardhan and Nivedita Saraf
MI, SWARA AANI TE DOGHA Review
A mother and daughter live-in relationships with their respective partners under one roof, at the same time! This great germ with many possibilities is the core of brand new Marathi play MI, SWARA AANI TE DOGHA.
However, before arriving at this incident in the second act, the eventful first act describes the required background because of which they are doing this experiment.
Manjusha (Nivedita Saraf), the mother, is a widow. She feels she has had enough of fulfilling the expectations of others and it's high time she spent her life on her own terms. She has decided to marry her college boyfriend Yash Patil (Vijay Patwardhan),who had lost his life partner some time back. Yash is ready to marry, but he doesn’t want to impose this decision on Manjusha’s daughter, Swara (Rashmi Anapat).
Swara, who has had a bad experience with a past relationship, is currently going through the divorce process to end a disastrous marriage. A worried Manjusha wants Swara to move on and thinks that Kapil (Suyash Tilak), Swara's office colleague, could be a good match for her. So, Manjusha approaches Kapil to know him and his feelings for Swara. As Kapil likes Swara, Manjusha promises to help but a hurt Swara refuses any suggestion. Yash Patil is also not ready to marry without Swara's consent and skeptical about the stranger Kapil. Stuck in this situation, Manjusha suddenly puts up a proposal for both couples to live together to know each other better. After arguments and rejections all of them agree. The second act portrays the result of this trial.
But then we see that this bold experiment is moulded according to the moral choices of average spectators within the limits of commercial theatre. For example a live-in without physical intimacy, which undermines the purpose of the plan. It is as important as checking out day-to-day compatibility if you are planning a life together as partners. The conclusion turns out to be rather tame-- a typical crowd-pleasing happy ending.
There are few more glitches in the writing like too many blackouts, underdeveloped characters, mix-up of narrator's role, etc. As the name suggests, the audience may assume that the play is from mother's point of view but during blackouts we hear Swara's comments too. Also, it's a bit longer than other current productions. This might be the result of the depth and complex reality of the subject. Senior citizens' live-in is a deep, multifaceted subject in itself.
Still, the actual show keeps you engaged and entertains a lot. The director has set up the flow neatly. The dialogues and overall treatment sets up the light, funny mood. A good title song, good production values, requirement-fulfilling set and lighting are plus points. The actors have done their best, everyone, within the boundaries of their respective characters.
