Dadaji (TUKARAM) ek chhote se bachche ko laye hain. Aur agar meri apni aulad hoti toh bhi shaayad main use itna pyaar nahin karta. Shastron mein bhi likha hai ki dil ka sambandh hi asli sambandh hota hai. Main khud yeh baat kab ka bhula chuka hoon ki bhaiya ne Nilesh ko goad liya tha. MAHESH: Ab tune jo bola woh phir se kabhi mat dohorana. (Mahesh stops Vikas from uttering a word further. Tum dono ka pyar dekh kar lagta hi nahin ki Nilesh tumhare khandan ki asli aulad nahin. Aur bade bhaiya ke dehant ke baad toh yeh mera hi beta ban gaya hai. Tu to jaanta hi hai Nilesh ka meri zindagi mein kitna mahattva hai. VIKAS To aaj bhi chal raha hai chacha-bhateeje ke beech pyaar. Just then Mahesh’s village friend Vikas walks in.) NILESH: Bhalaa main aapko gussa hote kaise dekh sakta hoon?
Apne chacha ki baat tu kabhi taal hi nahin sakta. (Nilesh stops abruptly and comes towards Mahesh. MAHESH: Apne chacha ki baat nahin maanega? Gussa dilayega mujhe? Mahesh playing with his 10-year old nephew Nilesh, who is running and jumping around carelessly. (A verandah of a house in the interiors of Maharashtra. Sumati – Mahesh’s sister-in-law (31 years) Sumitra – Mahesh’s mother and Tukaram’s wife (50 years) The play has also been performed in a school in Amritsar. It was made possible by Rachel Hood, who designed and directed it. ( This play was performed at Navarachana International School in Baroda. Nonetheless, the play is an attempt in the right direction that brings to highlight the ultimate message- Gandhi could save us in 1947, Gandhi can save us in 2021.Story and Script – Keyur Seta(copyright protected) The play, though emotionally charged, is stagey and largely foreseeable. Also, considering the area we are in, so close to history, it was very easy to slip into his ideals.”
I had nothing to do but only follow the script and the direction of my director. Talking about the process of working on the play, Sagar Gambhir shared, “The process was extremely easy considering the situation within which the play was created. Strong performances from the actors further elevated the show, keeping the viewers gripped for a tale as long as an hour-and-a-half. The play’s juxtaposition of entertainment with information appealed to the spectators looking to revisit their understanding of Gandhian ideals. Largely a piece of fiction, the characters almost broke the fourth wall in a pursuit to communicate that the themes being talked about are independent of a certain period of time.Įven though the structure of the play spoon-fed the audience much detail and nuance, leaving little space for personal interpretations, they resonated well with the performances. Right from the start, the dramatic storytelling deploys rather exaggerated performances, a grandiose sound design, and the elaborate use of lights and costumes all important to contextualise the time period the play is set in. Upadhyay thus does an intelligent job of juxtaposing contemporary issues in a plot that is set in the past. Even though the plot is located in a post-partition era, the play bears resemblance to events from the recent past, thereby showcasing a tale that is as timeless as Gandhi’s ideals. In times when religion controls every aspect of our lives, Gandhi Tum Zinda Ho has socially salient cues for all. Even though years have passed, there has been no one who has reached up to his level,” shared Upadhyay who founded the Thespian Society, a Delhi-based theatre company in 2005. Gandhi was perhaps the only spiritual and political leader who was able to mobilise us. Religious rigidity, terrorism, caste inequalities are dominant issues.