Attended the show "History of India_VIRitten" starring Vir Das at St. Andrews, Bandra on Sunday (13th March). The show takes you from the origination of "India" on planet earth to what it is on present day. It touches various aspects from the Harrappan Civilization, Indus Valley Civilization to the Moghuls, to Vasco da Gama, Britishers, Gandhi, Nehru, B R Ambedkar, Morarji Desai, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay and Rajeev Gandhi, to the Independence Struggle, to the Gujaratis, Bengalis, Delhites, 'Bandraites', Builders, 70s, 80s, 90s, to A Raja, Kalmadi, Common Wealth Games, Barack Obama, Marathi manoos, the riots......Phew!!!! The list is endless. Needless, there was not one moment where one might have thought anything else. Either you love him for his comedy or you totally hate him (planning to shoot him). It was a very well researched and a thought out script. Well presented. There was a connect with the audience and more importantly the ability to handle eratic behaviour from the audience too.
Vir Das did an excellent job of taking his audience through the History of India with his comical touch that made you sit up and take notice and think - "Hey, Why didn't I think of that?". Not to forget, he had the audience in splits...laughing hysterically...well at the very obvious comments, and some of them at the very subtle ones too. Thinking of Stand Up Comedy Acts, not many have dared to venture in this genre. Must say it requires a person to be well read, intelligent, articulate and well - witty. It takes a person of merit and bravery to tread where many have feared to tread or maybe not even given it a thought. India does not know many artists who can boast of having such an audience and following not to mention shows running all over.
Director- Atul Kumar
Production- The Company Theatre, Mumbai
Performed and Devised By : Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Sheeba Chadha, Konkona Sen Sharma, Munish Bhardawaj.
A theatrical creation based on "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat"
By Oliver Sacks
“
Dr. Sacks recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders: people afflicted with fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations; patients who have lost their memories and with them the greater part of their pasts; who are no longer able to recognize people and common objects; who are stricken with violent tics and grimaces or who shout involuntary obscenities; whose limbs have become alien; who have been dismissed as retarded yet are gifted with uncanny artistic or mathematical talents.
“
My Review:
The intention was to present a world where patients are lost in time... of what was...... however, what came cross was different....
At the outset, the actors come across as standalone characters.... none of them connected in either ways.... connected only in terms of recounting / remembering of what was – their memories.... which is a thin thread .....or rather which is a common ground for all of them....which does not come across so strongly....they recount........remember............ a cremation ground, a grandparent, some porn magazines, a neighbourhood girl, mangoes, cricket, a brother, hostel... blue green stones.... nothing beyond 1983....
There is a doctor (Konkana Sen Sharma) and her patient (Ranvir Shorey)... appearing intermittently..... where the case is presented.... of a patient lost in time... who remembers nothing.... that relationship is the only thread which clearly states what the original author had intended.... of neurological disorders....
However, as for the other characters, Rajat , Vinay, Sheeba and Munish, it was difficult to connect them to this bizarre "presentation"..they appeared as people just remembering.... their performances were brilliant....eliciting responses from their audiences.... in terms of comic... however, the plot is not very clear.... it is a bit vague... as to what was intended to be understood by the audience.... they didn’t seem bizarre or like patients who had lost memory... they just were.... recounting and remembering.... except between the Doctor and the patient... which was very clearly presented.... the connectivity between all the characters and what was hounding them was missing....
Konkana played a very safe character... it was a non challenging role of a doctor.... probably she was just roped in for the “X” factor..... Ranvir was a wee bit over the top.... Rajat and Vinay were just right... Sheeba and Munish passed....
The direction could have been better.... the actors could have been utilized more strongly..... the intention was good....but the projection didn’t convey the conviction.....
