Mangesh Padgaonkar’s ‘Ashi pakhare yeti anik smruti theuni jati, don disanchi rangat sangat don disachi nati…. tells the philosophy of life in general. Yet we remember all those moments gone forever.
Along with my mamas I had seen this play in Saykhedkar Natya Mandir. There were only three tickets & they chose me over my cousin who was enraged. But she had to stay back. Looking back I feel I have been really privileged in certain matters in the family.Till I reached the marriageable age ,I wasn’t aware I wasn’t tall enough or fair to be approved. Let’s talk about the play!
Vijay Tendulkar has written this play which has a contemporary subject. The wedding of the girl , who has been rejected so many times. He is known for his works like ‘Ghashiram Kotwal’, ‘Sakharam Binder’ which also brought in a storm in the literary circles.His work shows his talent & his foresight. Priya Tendulkar trained at J J School of fine arts found her vocation on stage. She worked in films like ‘Gondhalat gondhal’ etc, in TV serials like “Rajani” & wrote books like ‘Panchatarankit’ which show her versatility.
Rohini Oak & Shrikant Moghe formed the main cast. Shrikant Moghe is the sutradhar & visits households of his liking to help people. He does not settle at any one place. He remembers a house where he had met Saru. Where he had for a moment felt if he should settle down. Saru is a girl, smart but smarting from the recent rejections. Shrikant or Arun ,here talks to her. Convinces her that she is beautiful! (Isn’t beauty in the eyes of the beholder!) The next bot comes to her house & she imagines it’s Arun & freely talks to him.
The outcome is as expected. The boy is impressed & he says ..Yes. Now, the entire household is happy except Saru. She refuses to marry Vishwas. She wants to marry Arun. He doesn’t know what to do. He is stumped. He means well for her but cannot marry her. Just then Vishwas, the probable groom arrives. He wants to know why she has rejected him. Saru tells him the reason. Arun talks to us saying, ‘Aree ha tar Bengali hero nighala! me nahi, theek! Tu Arunshi lagna kar, mi kahi kami padu denar nahi’ He is overwhelmed by Vishwas & decides to leave. ‘Tiche ashru mi kahi pahu saknar nahi’
The play is a representation of society. The norms set by people & how they change as the wind blows. The beatings by the father, mother unhappy, brother sad ,he can’t marry because of her, typical trappings of a soap opera. What is different is the subtle hint, smell of roses & the finish. Today the Hindi televised version is available. ‘Panchi aise aate hai’ the location changed from Alibag to Varanasi.The star cast is new with Ratan Rajput, Parashare & others. Instead of letter, there is friend request on facebook!
A 1999 film ,’Khubsoorat’ with Sanjay Dutt & Urmila Matondkar had Sanjay coming to their house to hide. He is a goon. He infuses confidence in her. ‘Aye Shivani… tu lagti hai nani…’ & “Khoobsurat ho…” were well received. She is beautiful but starts believing in it. The similarity ends here.
In ‘Bawarchi’ Rajesh Khanna goes as Raju & solves all the problems of the household. Probably the only film where Rajesh Khanna & Jaya Bhaduri worked together,but not opposite each other. The sutradhar is the voice, Amitabh Bachchan, who introduces us to each character. Hrishikesh Mukherjee had given Rajesh Khanna a free hand & he fully utilised it. It is a pleasure to watch this joint family. Raju helps it from falling apart. In the end ,Raju leaves in search of the next house.
In ‘Parichay’ the song ‘Beeti na beetai raina…’ was to be cut as it was found to be too classical for the mood of the film.When Amitabh came to pick up Jaya from the sets, they were courting soon to be married, Jeetendra gave him the cassette to hear in his car & asked his opinion. Next day Amitabh told him he had liked the song. Thus it got a go ahead. With Amitabh, such clips may keep erupting. He was a witness to so many things then. All roads lead to London,they say. So no escaping him.
More in the next blog. Happy viewing!
Asian Entertainment 