Love,Virtually

Revived Marathi play White Lily Aani Night Rider laughs its way through modern relationships forged on the net.

IN a chat room,two people meet under pseudonyms White Lily and Night Rider. White Lily,shy and meek,is floored by the dashing Night Rider. Since theyre both looking for partners,they decide to meet in person. This is how Marathi play White Lily Aani Night Rider begins: in a coffee shop,where two strangers shed their internet alter egos and meet in person. To her disappointment,Bhakti Deshmukh aka White Lily discovers that her knight,Keshav Sane,is a bumbling,shy and balding 39-year-old man. He is just as taken aback by the gutsy and over-assertive 36-year-old woman.

The award-winning play was written by Milind Phatak and Rasika Joshi,who played the role of Night Rider and White Lily respectively,in 2009. Unfortunately,after Joshi passed away due to cancer in 2011,the shows came to a halt. Among the disappointed audience was actor Sonali Kulkarni. I was a big fan of the play and of Rasika. I have seen the play nearly six times, she says. Much to her surprise when Phatak thought of reviving the play two years later,the first person he called for Bhaktis role was Kulkarni. I jumped at the chance, says Kulkarni at the green room of Prithvi Theatre as she gets ready for the plays 68th show on Thursday.

However,reopening the play was not easy. Kulkarni was nervous about returning to theatre after a long gap. But,she was sure of one thing: I was not going to play Bhaktis character like Rasika did. Its impossible to imitate the nuances she brought to the character. So Milind and I made changes in the script,with a new Bhakti in mind, she says. Phatak made other changes to the story as well. The play is about how a middle-aged couple feel more comfortable meeting online. So in terms of technology,our play was dated, Phatak says. Today,anyone hardly uses chatrooms or even a laptop. So Whatsapp,Facebook and social media were incorporated into the script, he says.

In the two-and-a-half hour play,Kulkarni and Phatak put up an uproarious act of the couple,who have nothing in common. At their first meeting,Bhakti demands to have their sexual compatibility tested,leaving the shy Kesav flabbergasted. Weve tried to show a couple in their late 30s,whose options are fast running out, says Phatak.

Then to check their day-to-day compatibility,he asks her to move in with him. She makes an entry with dozens of pairs of shoes,creams,moisturisers and her obsessive-compulsiveness,making Kesav wonder why he wanted to get married to begin with.They try everything: contract relationships,live-in and even talk of marriage. Eventually,they realise theyre hitting a wall, says Phatak.

The light-hearted comedy subtly raises three questions. Is the system of marriage still relevant; if not,have we come to a solution and if we havent,is that why were still complying to marriage. Its actually a circle these two characters keep running around in, he says.

After reopening the play in May,we have staged it across Maharashtra Pune,Nashik,Aurangabad and even Ratnagiri, says Kulkarni,who is also its producer. They were pleasantly surprised how easily the small towns accepted the bizarre compatibility tests that the characters put each other through. Its not just the relationships in the cities that are crumbling. It has become a universal phenomenon, Kulkarni says.

amruta.lakhe@expressindia.com

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