What happens at 6 pm?

The tale of a son who gets possessed by his grandfather’s spirit every day at six in the evening,is in itself intriguing. When Shrimant Damodar Pant,a play written and directed by Kedar Shinde was first staged in 1998,the audience was left uncertain about the production. However,Shinde believed that the scope of the plot was undermined by the restrictions of theatre. He waited for 15 years to tap what he believes is the true potential of the plot,and has now come up with the film adaptation of Shrimant Damodar Pant,which will release on July 26.

The story revolves around Damu,played by Bharat Jadhav,who lives with his parents,an elder brother and his wife,and sister. “Damu is a good-for-nothing guy. But every evening at six,he becomes Shrimant Damodar Pant,his late grandfather,and commands respect from the family,” says Jadhav. “The play was first staged at a time when my plays would run a 1,000 shows. I was taken aback when Shrimant Damodar Pant ran only 350 shows,” said Shinde,who wanted to explore the play further”. Shinde also wanted to see how something he had written in 1998 would appeal to him 15 years later. He knew he’d get possessive about the original script and had Omkar Mangesh write the film’s screenplay. “I spent a lot of time reevaluating the play,” says Shinde,who started reflecting on the script critically seeing his audience baffled after the play.

He explains that the movie will tell the audience about the characters in greater detail. Shinde also allowed his imagination to run wild with possibilities such as Damu transforming into his grandfather in the marketplace. While the original play was set in a room and the only people who would get to know about Damu’s transformation would be his family,in the film,the setting of the movie is a haveli that has reduced to a chawl with around 12 families living in its premises. At 6 pm,the entire chawl travels back in time to the way it used to be in 1947. This film,Shinde hopes,will make the audience forget the play. “The audience will be in for a ‘serious comedy’ because from the family’s point of view it is a grave problem,where a woman’s son transforms into her father-in-law. But when these complexities are communicated by skillful actors it makes the story a laugh riot,” says Shinde adding,“They also get to know the significance of 6 pm after watching the movie.”