.~*~.Shweta Tiwari FC .~*~ - Page 81

The Dreamscape Entertainment production AAINE KE SAU TUKDE - a monologue penned by Saif Hyder Hasan has as its biggest attraction, television actress Shweta Tiwari. Writer-Director Saif Hyder Hasan's play is about a seemingly abnormal and emotionally insecure child who grows up hating her twin sister. During the course of the play, Meenal narrates the incidents of her blatant jealousy and selfishness towards her sister Manya. The incidents range from the sadistic joy in harassing their mother to sleeping with Manya's husband, uncouth as he is, as a ploy to break up her sister's marriage. She perceives Manya as the root cause of all the sau tukde of her world.

Meenal's hate is the sum of the play. There is no reasoning here and the so called climax is without any resolution. Meenal at the age of 2 is what she is at the age of 40! The inherent problem lies with the script and the staging. Even the gorgeous Shweta Tiwari can only do so much. And what a task she has at hand. She plays all the 13 characters in the play and yet the audience is left with a very narrow understanding of the envious Meenal's actions.

I wonder why did the writer-director choose to stage this play as a monologue, and not with the full cast of characters? At least that would have been a redeeming factor. It could have relieved the monotony and the boredom, and would not have put Shweta Tiwari's fragile acting to test.

The set with a few vertical decorative mirrors, white muslin curtains, shiny dangling pieces, a big multicolored box, and a colorful settee makes you wonder what this place might be. It just comes as some sort of a decor to provide variation to the movements of the artiste. The lighting has strong colors but no definite mood or effect to heighten the impact of Tiwari's meek actions. The effect of the water reflection, which is used often, is without any significance. Music could not add much to the mood of drama unfolding on stage. And less can be said about the costume the prima donna is wearing. The unwritten motto of theatre is that every word in the script, and every action and effect on the stage must have meaning.

Shweta Tiwari is a charming artiste with limited exposure to theatre. To throw her in situation in which probably the most versatile of actors would be challenged, is strange. Beyond a point, she obviously just rattled the dialogues. I can only admire her courage and strength to go on for more than two hours. THEATRE KE SAU TUKDE is more like it.

*Jyoti Vyas is a senior theatre and television person who has trained under Ebrahim Alkazi at the National School of Drama (NSD). She has written for publications such as 'The Asian Age' and the Prithvi Theatre Newsletter (PT Notes). She has also trained students in the Theatre, and is an important critical voice for Gujarati Theatre.