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Journalism of Courage
Theatre director and actor Vikram Kapadia defies easy categorisation. The white khadi kurta and jhola invite the stereotype of the intellectual. But not the natty cell-phone ensconced in his lap. As the Bombay-based stage director whose production, The Musk Maiden, features in the Prithvi Theatre festival next month, puts it, quot;My material aspirations and theatrical vision are like the US and what used to be the USSR the one is completely at odds with the other. I want to experiment with unusual ideas, at the same time I also want to be rich and own a Ferrari!quot;
Which is why major formative influences include Peter Brook, Grotowski and Stanislovsky, Kapadia as well as Salim Ghouse and Naseeruddin Shah, with whom he co-directed Julius Caesar in 1992. Spanning plays such as The Typists, Dance and the Rail Road, Julius Caesar, Tuglaq and Romeo and Juliet, Kapadia8217;s oeuvre reveals a recent shift in favour of plays written by Indian playwrights.
The Musk Maiden, adapted from Makrand Deshpande8217;s Hindi play Kasturi, is another product of the same philosophy. Grounded in Indian legend, The Musk Maiden is a multi-layered exploration of female sexuality, and has as its protagonists two women, Kasturi and Maya, who embody contrary feminine impulses. quot;Kasturi, the original play on which The Musk Maiden is based, is inspired by the legend of Mrignayani8217;.
In the play, musk, which is also used as an aphrodisiac, emanates from Mrignayani8217;s navel in the avatar of Kasturi. At a literal level, the play is about a woman who denies her own sexuality. But the play operates throughthe shifting metaphors of fact and fiction. Decoding the play8217;s meaning is like solving a jigsaw puzzle.quot; Featuring former veejay Suchitra Pillai in the lead role, the cast of Musk Maiden also includes Mita Vashisht and veteran Gujarati actor, Darshan Jhariwala. quot;The interesting thing about the cast is that Suchitra8217;s personality is more akin to the role being played by Mita, and vice versa. In fact, a week after finalising the cast, I almost swapped their roles. But eventually I decided that it would be more interesting to subdue Mita8217;s energy and make Suchitra8217;s character bolder.quot;
Kapadia plans to have an expressionistic set, all in white, to enhance the ivory-tower feeling . Live music and the use of slides are the other highlights. The director8217;s next production is a Marathi political satire called Shobha Yatra. Also on the anvil is a production of Naushal Mehta8217;s Nushal Mehta Commits Suicide, which inspired Ketan Mehta8217;s film Hero Heeralal.
The Musk Maiden at the Prithvi Theatre. On Nov17. Time: 6.00 pm and 9.00 pm.
