When Raavan became Ram and Shakespeare

Shakespeare, Raavan and Ram; all three names in one sentence sounds odd, doesn’t it? Now, throw in the twist of Ram and Raavan switching places, and a Hanuman who is spiteful towards his master. What festers from the above confusion is Rangadhaara’s hilarious play, ‘Aur Shakespeare Sharmaya’.

Directed by Prakash Phadnavis, the play is a farcical take on the afterlife of Ram, Raavan and Shakespeare. The play begins with Shakespeare (Shashank), dancing away to glory in heaven. His dance routine is interrupted by Raavan (Sanjeev Acharya), who is looking for a playwright. Raavan is sick of being the villain and asks his heaven mate to write a play with him cast as Ram. Shakespeare directs him to a writer (Suraj), on Earth.

While Raavan is trying to convince the writer to give him the role of Ram, Lord Ram (Ali Ahmed), appears and gives his blessings to Raavan’s desire. What ensues next is a hilarious and imaginative episode of Raavan’s problems as Ram. Things like monogamy and vegetarianism become a problem for the meat and women loving Raavan. He is constantly kept in line by Ram’s diehard bhakt, Hanuman (Akhilesh).

The play ends with a surprise twist, which conveys the personal tussle that the writer seems to have with Lord Ram. The play is very Bollywood, filled with dance sequences and slapstick comedy. Time and again actors broke out in dance sequences, the reasons for which were not clear, but fun to watch nevertheless.

However, the best part was the intelligent and rib tickling dialogues. It is pretty evident that the original playwright of the Marathi play, from which this has been adapted, has quite an imagination, and so does Phadnavis. Unfortunately, the acting could not live up to the play’s standard.

Almost all the actors missed their comedic timings. There were frequent long bouts of dead air on stage with actors giving each other confused looks. Raavan was stiff with his body and expressions. The character who looked most comfortable on stage was Hanuman.

The choreography, makeup and costumes deserve special mention. These made up for the lapses by actors on stage. The tech department did not let down; the selection of songs and music was apt and made the audience laugh. All in all, it was a good effort by Rangadhaara.

By Saharssh