If we were to ask a middle class person, what worries him
the most these days, many of them would say ‘inflation’. Only thing which is
growing faster than corruption in India are prices. You do not have
to cut an onion these days for it to make you cry. Just looking at its prices
sends the tears rolling.
चुकंयेंगे ? नहीं ! () is a Hindi adaptation by Amitabh Srivastava of Nobel
Laureate Dario Fo’s
original “Can’t
pay, won’t pay”/ Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!. The original play
was written during autoriduzione (self-reduction) movement, during an
economic crisis in Italy,
in which women (and men) would take what they wished from markets, only paying
for what they could afford. In the current state of India, a lot many people would want
to do that. In the play they show what would happen if they actually did so. The
entire play is set in a working class man’s house. The lower middle class woman
(Lakshmi) becomes a part of spontaneous uprising at the local super market and
comes home with lots of household material without paying for it. She is scared
that if her self-righteous husband would find out, he would not agree to it.
Her reluctant neighbor (Mala) becomes a part of mayhem and more complex
spontaneous situations unfold when the police come knocking. So a lady suddenly
becomes 5 months pregnant, new medical miracles happen with pregnancy transplants
and things really get out of control when there is a “ek policewaale ki
pregnant laash” on stage. The cast, comprising of Asmita’s lead actress Shilpi
Marwah (playing Lakshmi – also seen in movie Ranjhnaa as Sonam kapoor’s friend)
has given some phenomenal performance. Palak Bhutani (as Mala) was very
expressive with her hand gestures and facial expressions and really showed her discomfort for being put into the midst of the situation as a spontaneously pregnant woman. Rahul Khanna and Ishwak
Singh had small roles but set the audience rolling with laughter with their
one-liners and body language. Himanshu Maggon and Gaurav Mishra depict the
plight and the struggle of working class to great effect.
Asmita Theatre connects the audience like very few other
theatre groups. Theatre in Delhi has often been associated with aristocrats and
high society people, Asmita caters to entire population - to the well read with their intellectually
stimulating plays like Ambedkar vs Gandhi, to middle class through almost all
their plays since they are an integral part of it and to the not so well read people
like me can still enjoy a good laugh with easy to understand language without
going bankrupt (due to their low ticket price).
About the play:
Language: Hindi
Director: Arvind Gaur
Adapted by: Amitabh
Srivast
Play By: Asmita Theatre Group
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