BANGALORE: Leela Nandlal Ki will be perfromed in Bangalore at Rangashankara and Jagriti Theatre on November 2 and 3; and November 5 and 6 respectively. Leela Nandlal ki is a tragi-comedy where the audience gets more than it bargained for. About the writer:Bhisham Sahni is known to generations of Indians as the writer of TAMAS, a seminal work on Partition that was filmed for television by Govind Nihalani. Sahni also wrote several plays and more than 100 short stories in his long and illustrious career. Leela Nandlal Ki is a short story that has been adapted and dramatized for stage by Munish Sharma. The tragi-comic play revolves around the travails of a common man who loses his scooter when he goes to watch a play. The circus that is played out between the protagonist, the bureaucracy and the public forms the crux of the play.For generations of Indians who grew on TAMAS, Bhisham Sahni came to epitomize the voice of partition for it was his TAMAS that informed the post partition generation about the angst of 1947. What Garam Hawa was to the 70’s generation, Tamas became for the 80s. Bhisham Sahani is best known to most Indians as the writer of ‘Tamas’, a dark epic novel set against the partition(directed by Govind Nihalani for television), actually considers his short stories, like Leela Nandlal ki, as higher achievements than his novels.In his words, “a short story is like lodging in a house one night and moving away the next morning, whereas a novel is like coming into a town where you have to bide for months on end. In a short story, every word must have some eloquence, every utterance some significance. Sahni was the elder brother of actor Balraj Sahni. Bhisham Sahni was an actor, playwright, novelist, short story writer and activist.About the Director: Munish Sharma is an actor and director who is currently based out of Mumbai. He has acted with directors like Atul Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Krishna, Vivek Madan and Nimi Ravindran. He has acted in 5 Grains of Sugar, Jokumaraswamy, Listen Janmejaya, Lines about a bullet, Evam Indrajit and Moilere’s Imaginary Invalid among other plays.He has also acted in several films including Bollywood Hero with Neha Dhupia produced for American Television. Last year he directed a short film Taala aur Chabi which has been shown at several film festivals. Munish currently runs a production company that handles casting and production for films in Mumbai. Synopsis of the play:The play dwells around the travails of Nandlal, someone like R K Laxman’s common man, a nobody who tries to work his way through bureaucracy and the absurdity of everyday life. A subtle comedy, the gentle nuances of an innocent man stuck in a never ending mirror-lined corridor who retains his sense of humor and optimism touches a chord. The theft of his scooter while watching a play snowballs into an endless circus.
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