THEATRE TO WATCH OUT FOR THIS WEEKEND (27-28 JULY'13)

Sat 27th July

Tuesdays with Morrie (Eng) (Directed by Meera Khurana) Prithvi theatre Juhu 6 and 9 pm

The Vagina Monologues (Eng) (Directed by Mahabano Mody Kotwal) Canvas Laugh Factory, Lower Parel 6pm

The Frying Pan (Eng) (Directed by Murtuza Kutianawala) St. Andrews Bandra 7 30 pm

Sun 28th July

Tuesdays with Morrie (Eng) (Directed by Meera Khurana) Prithvi theatre Juhu 5 and 8 pm

The Vagina Monologues (Eng) (Directed by Mahabano Mody Kotwal) Canvas Laugh Factory, Lower Parel 6pm

History of India (Eng) (Dir Vir Das) Manik Sabhagraha Bandra, 7pm

Bhelpoori (Hin/Eng) (Dir Rocky S) Mysore Association Matunga, 7 45pm

Fools (Eng) (Dir Meherzad Patel) NCPA Expt Nariman point 7pm

Ji Jaisi Apki Marzi (Dir Nadira Babbar) Godrej Dance Academy (NCPA) Nariman Point, 7pm

Big Fat City (Eng) (Dir Mahesh Dattani) Sophia Auditorium Beach Candy, 7pm

Blame it on Yashraj (Eng) (Dir Bharat Dabholkar) St. Andrews Bandra, 7pm

SHIP OF THESEUS

Well! What do you say? Sometimes excellence leaves you so spellbound that you silently wonder. Ah! what was that...how is it possible? how come!!!...You are left too numb to express. That is why it takes me almost 30 hours of silent wondering before I can write.

Ok so the Ship flags off with the story of a visually impaired young girl who is an excellent intuitive photographer. She is quite comfortable being there. Being visually impaired and yet being excellent at exploring how beautiful the world is. Then she undergoes a surgery and now has 'vision' but unfortunately doesn't quite know what to do with it. Then we are left at that and the ship takes us to another shore all together. Story of a Jain monk fighting against the use of animals for laboratory tests and the ill treatment they are subjected to before they are experimented on. The fight here goes on to a very different level when he is diagnosed liver cirrhosis. He must take the medicines whose roots lie in the same lab or else die. Then we go into the life of a stock broker who has undergone a kidney transplant. By chance he lays his hands upon a big racket of illegal trade of kidneys. 

So many things to offer. Three different stories...three different fights...three different conflicts connected and weaved in so well. What leaves you awestruck is the  manner in which they are executed. There is so much detailing so much layering so many dimensions and yet the film is a poetry. The cinematography (Pankaj Kumar) is breathtaking almost always. There are so many misc-en-scene sequences and they flow ever so lucidly. Ok there are certain shots that are out focus but it is more than acceptable. The silhouettes are meticulously worked out. Never a single frame appears lit up and that is where the real beauty is. The production design (Pooja Shetty and Rakesh Yadav) is so low key that everything looks natural and feels in place. Editing (Sanyukta Kaza, Adesh Prasad, Satchit Puranik) a film like this is such a tough job. But everything falls in place and you don't think there is a single frame extra or out of sync. Top notch!

The performances are some of the best seen recently. Aida El- Kashaf (as Aliya Kamal), Neeraj Kabi (as Maitreya), Soham Shah (as Navin) all are in perfect sync with their characters. Their natural performances enhance the film. All in the support cast pull in tight performances.

The biggest punch of the film lies in the scripting (Anand Gandhi, Pankaj Kumar, Khushboo Ranka) and off course the film belongs to its director (Anand Gandhi). Such a film cannot be completed without the vision. Everything is so detailed and yet it just happens like it just happens. Anand Gandhi deserves all the acclaim that he has been getting. The captain of the Ship this one belongs to you!

DAMODAR DEEWANO THAYO

Hi friends please read my reivew of the latest Gujarati play Damodar Deewano Thayo on the following link

http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/reviews/23-damodar-deewano-thayo-gujarati-play-review.asp