Journalism of Courage
Rajit Kapurs theatre production The Bureaucrat is a humourous take on crumbling government authorities.
Actor and theatre artiste Rajit Kapur has a broad grin playing on his face as you mention the play The Bureaucrat. Produced by him under the Rage Productions banner,the play takes a humourous look at the bureaucracy and the manner in which the government machinery functions. “It was born out of a 15-minute short play,which we staged last year during our show One on One. Looking at the encouraging response the short play received,we came up with the idea of making a full-length play, says Kapur,adding that The Bureaucrat takes a look at life in contemporary India and the real time issues.
To be staged in the city for the first time on March 21 at the Radisson Hotel,Kapur is excited about the prospects of the 105-minute long play in Pune. The Bureaucrat recently completed 25 shows at the Prithvi a couple of weeks back. It even toured to various cities in the North over the last year. The play is essentially English with liberal doses of Hinglish,so the people will easily be able to relate to it, he says.
Starring Bugs Bhargava-Krishna,Neil Bhoopalam,Jaswinder Singh,Sukant Goel,Aseem Hattangady,Shivani Tanksale and Natasha Azad,the play has been directed by Rahul Da Cunha. It details the story of Raghuvir Gupta,an aging,discarded colonial bureaucrat in Delhi who is pulled up by his minister for an important task. The story takes a turn when MTV VJ Dishoom,played by Bhoopalam,launches a nationwide campaign to start a massive protest called Kapre Utaro Middle Classes. All this coincides with the visit of the French President Nicholas Sarkozy to India. “In simple words,The Bureaucrat is a political satire which would combine elements from Yes Prime Minister and Aap Ki Adalat,” Kapur laughs.
The characters of the play,says Kapur,are inspired by real life people and incidents. There was so much dissent amongst people,mostly youngsters,about issues like corruption,the Anna Hazare movement and so many others when they took to the streets, he says,adding that at the same time,the group didnt want to get preachy about the countrys issues. Instead,they took the decision of satirising it.
(The Bureaucrat will be staged at Al Fresco,Radisson Hotel on March 21 at 7.30 pm).
