Love lost

Gurnaaz Kaur

Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met is a love story that has garnered rave reviews. Even after so many years, its depiction of the relation between Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor is considered no less than a benchmark for young lovers. 

On the other hand, there’s Jab We Separated, a play by Felicity Theatre, written and directed by multifaceted Rakesh Bedi, which highlights the social issue of divorce. The star cast of this drama, in Chandigarh on Saturday, includes TV actress Shweta Tiwari, theatre actors Rahul Bhuchar and Rakesh Bedi. 

Modern relations

This drama on modern-day relationships depicts the mindset and emotions of couples who resort to divorce. It explores the lack of love, compassion and forgiveness in young couples, which leads to discord in marriage. Add how issues such as infidelity, nagging and mistrust make their relationships bitter. The trio feels theatre has become one of the mainstream sources of entertainment. “I wrote this play five years back, but was waiting for an opportune time to direct it. These days, divorce rate has gone up. It is no more considered a taboo and girls of this time are quite independent. All this is a good development, but such an outlook has also made pettiest of issues a cause of separation. My role as a neighbour adds humour to the play and also gives some unwarranted advice to the perpetually fighting couple,” shares Rakesh.

Leading lady

Shweta Tiwari, who has made a comeback to acting after a break, is of the opinion that this is a story of every woman, no matter what age group. She says it captures the many shades of being a woman. “Be it a daughter, wife or mother, there are relatable parts for all of them in this story, where I play Priya Maheshwari, a modern, emotional, strong and weak — all at the same time — girl.”  

Her character as Prerna in Kasautii Zindagii Kay has stayed with us for years, but TV is not on her mind for now. She says, “I am busy enjoying motherhood. During my daughter’s childhood, I was very caught up with work and I’ve learnt from that mistake; my son is two and I want to spend all the time with him.” 

As we talk of her transition from TV to theatre, she explains, “I started acting with theatre and gradually moved to TV, so it’s the other way round. Acting isn’t easy because you have to display emotions that you aren’t feeling and theatre is one step ahead in terms of being challenging as unlike TV, there are no takes in it.” But the gratification is instant too!

Driven by passion

Another important part of Jab We Separated is Rahul Bhuchar, producer and MD of Felicity Theatre. While he plays Priya’s husband in the story, he is also working towards establishing theatre in cities other than Mumbai and Delhi. “I am a full-time businessman and act out of my passion, but I first learnt the craft for three years. My reason for starting this company was to make theatre a sustainable option for artistes who have given their lives to it. There are many popular faces in our group and we focus on content, thus we also expect our viewers to be willing to pay for all the pain that goes into making a good drama.”

gurnaaz@tribunemail.com

Book the ticket 

Be it theatre, comedy shows or music concerts, Chandigarh as an audience is ready to shell out money for art and entertainment. There are online platforms such as BookMyShow, Insider.in, JustDial, Townscript, etc, where the tickets are sold, starting from Rs 200 and going up to thousands. Packed shows and bookings closing in advance are evidence that City Beautiful has a growing appetite for all things rich in content.