A guy on the run from the law for a crime he did
not commit. This sounds like a very common plot. This is the theme of the play
“Kathogodam Express” which is based on “39 Steps” and English classical movies
hailed as one of the best Hollywood has ever produced. Theatre is just not
about the story, it’s about how it is presented. The play is about Hari, an
event manager, accidentally framed for murder, becomes a fugitive running from
the long arm of the law. As he unravels, global conspiracies are exposed, and
hidden truths of modern existence revealed. What differentiates this play from
others is the fast pace, the multiple roles played by a single actor. Karan
Mann did a brilliant job playing very different characters which were different
not just in the role they were playing but the body language, dialect and
personality. He switched between the various characters brilliantly keeping the
audiences in splits in all his roles. Ritu Mago as the ‘spy who gets killed’
plays her role as spy-seductress with aplomb. Udit Ohri, playing the protagonist
did a good job but the fast pace and quick changes between scenes did not allow
for long scenes which really bring out the best in an actor. The entire team
did a good job in switching between the scenes and sets though I wish they
could’ve reduced the number of acts by combining them. It gets a little overwhelming.
You will be laughing through several scenes but some acts could’ve been better
script wise. One message we get at the
end of the play is that it is made from the heart to bring awareness for
autism.
Written and Directed By : Shivani Singh
Produced By: Mudita Sharma Mehta, Rishi Mehta for Behroopiya
Entertainers.
Cast : Nancy Arora, Ritu Mago, Gurinder Singh,
Udit Ohri, Sonu Sonkar, Karan Maan, Deepak Yadav, Ritesh Kumar Vdy, Amit Verma
