Literary Combo Feast!!!!!!!!

Its a lark!!!!Maja Padi gai!!!

On 22^nd April 2017, got an amazing chance to watch two Mono Act plays with my friends Bhumi Dangi and Ponda Alpa @Yashwantrai Natyagruh, Bhavnagar.

Before this also I have seen many plays in theatres, but this experience was very nice. These plays were not like the ones we watch just for fun. Watching this type of literary mono act was first time for me.

First play of that Evening was:

#MohanNoMasalo

Whenever we think of Gandhi a typical image comes in our mind of Mahatma, a skinny old fellow with glasses and a stick in his hand. This play dismisses the clichés that we may have about Gandhi's persona. He dresses in a formal suit and talks in a typical Gujarati accent that would have been natural to Gandhi. ‘Mohan’ here thus shares early incidents that taught him various lessons at different stages of life, which became a foundation stone for his life ahead.

This play gave me an amazing suggestion about life. We all have some or the other ingredients which make our dish of life different than others. When we start understanding this ingredients or say “Masalo”, we can build a better foundation of our future.

Another play of that evening was:

#HuChandrakantBakshi

First let me tell you that before watching this play,I had no idea about the famous Gujarati Writer Chandrakant Bakshi. I had heard about him from my friends like Alpa Ponda and Dr.Jay Mehta, but this play increased my knowledge and also caught my attention to read the works of this amazing writer.

‘Hu Chandrakant Bakshi’ is a Gujarati mono act on the life of the well-known and controversial Gujarati author Chandrakant Keshavlal Bakshi (August 20, 1932 – March 25, 2006).

The play narrates Bakshi’s life story and literary career in an entertaining manner,

But what was appealing was Bakshi’s mysterious nature, combination of witty intelligence, sarcasm, pride, frankness and narcissism. While narrating his life story, the writer has smartly mixed the above characteristics that provide regular entertainment.

What was surprising for me that being such a controversial writer, he is so famous today even.

Props used in both the plays:

There was very minimal use of props in both the plays. 

As the play #MohanNoMasalo deals with the journey of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, we can see the pictures related to his childhood, a chair and a stand for clothes. Pictures are good way to present nostalgic moments of one life.

In the other play we find props like a table, chair and bottles of whisky and water. But one of the major symbolical prop was s a ladder. It showed Bakshi’s obsession to be on the top.

#Pratik Gandhi did an excellent work in the both the acts. We don’t feel boredom while watching these acts. He himself gets so much involved in the character that we almost visualise him as “Mohan” and “Chandrakant Bakshi”.

You might be thinking that how people can be engaged in a Mono act, but trust me Pratik’s acting makes us so much involved and engaged that we hardly get time to think of boredom.

While watching this play, I asked my friend Alpa that Why we are not bored even when there is no such great setting or only one character. As she is also a very good artist of theatre, she explained me the techniques used by the actors and directors in the play. It is an enriching experience to watch these kind of worth watching plays with friends having good literary sense. We can learn more not only from play but also from our friends.

One thing which bothered me was that some of them were making so much noise and were quarrelling. Even the actor Pratik Gandhi had to stop in between.

“When in Rome, do as Romans do”, so people should sit quietly and enjoy like others.

Overall I enjoyed the literary combo fest!!!!!!!

Worth-Watching!!!!!