World Theatre Day: Why Sumeet Vyas, Kumud Mishra and Shubhrajyoti Barat are reprising a 55-year-old play about male ego

Shubhrajyoti Barat: This play has been done and redone a lot of times. It's a fun play in that it provides a very nice vehicle for actors to showcase their acting skills. At the same time, it has got an intriguing story about people's egos and the extent to which they will go in order to fulfill their egos.

This play has been in our minds for the last couple of years. Last to last year, we were opening this play called Purane Chawal, which is an adaptation of 'The Sunshine Boys' (1972) by Neil Simon, for the Prithvi Theatre Festival. That again is a play written earlier (in the 1970s). We spoke to Sumeet Vyas and asked him to direct it. Me and Kumud were supposed to act in the play. So we thought that we will ask somebody younger than us, but at the same time someone who has the intellectual wherewithal to deal with the play, whether he liked the play or not - that was very important. He really liked the script. And then he came in and directed the play. A lot of times during the rehearsals, he would almost half-jokingly say that 'I want to act, I don't want to direct, I want to figure in a play'. So as far as 'Sleuth' is concerned, what happened is that we were pondering over doing something for Aadyam, and this was one of the plays which was being considered. And then we remembered that Sumeet also wanted to figure in a play. We thought this would be perfect for Kumud and Sumeet in the two roles. And I sort of pitched in as the director.

Also there is this whole potent thing about jealousy in the play, which is very important. In fact, when we were rehearsing, it was a running theme amongst us as to how to equate it, not equate in the political sense but in terms of the emotion and content of it, to an 'Othello', for example. Because in 'Othello', the whole idea of jealousy is something that the great Shakespeare has delved into and delved into a lot.

But in Othello, the jealousy is manufactured, there was no love affair between Desdemona and Cassio. Whereas in this play, the romantic relationship exists.

Barat: You have to see Othello from Iago's point of view. (In William Shakespeare's 'Othello', Iago is the character who sows the seeds of suspicion in Othello's mind that his wife Desdemona might be having an affair with Cassio.) Then only you will find that the jealousy is already there and it's quite potent. It's manufactured only in the sense of a misunderstanding (created by Iago).

Can you remember when you first came across the play? Had you seen it being performed?

Barat: I have somehow missed watching the play (Sleuth) in all its glory. And there have been quite a few notable examples of this play being done on stage. It has been done in Bengali in Kolkata, with the great Soumitra Chatterjee playing the older character, which later on was made into a movie, if I'm not mistaken, directed by the Tapan Sinha. (There's also a Hoichoi series titled Tiktiki, starring Kausik Ganguly and Anirban Bhattacharya, that is based on Chatterjee's film adaptation of Shaffer's play.) And in Hindi, many years ago, a version was done by Naseeruddin Shah and Paresh Rawal which I don't think ran a lot in Mumbai but had a tour.

This play has adapted before... Our attempt, therefore, was to make it slightly more accessible in terms of contemporizing it, one. And secondly, also to pepper it with a little bit of contemporary humour so that it becomes that much more accessible, that much easier for the audience to enter the play. We were very keen that the mood of the play should not be somber, as the script-reading suggests.

Could you give us example of how you've contemporized the play for 2025?

Barat: What happens in contemporizing a play which has been written say 50-odd years ago, is that first you have to contend with the technology changes that have happened. Apart from the obvious changes with time in terms of the value systems. The mobile phone, for example, is the most obvious thing that figures in our lives all the time. So how do you deal with those things and how does it come in the way of your text or in a come in the way of saying an old story but in a new form?

I think those are the things that needed to be taken care of, and by situating it in Goa and making it about this guy who used to make sleazier movies and now lives a semi-retired life in Goa, I think some of those wrinkles were smoothed out by Akarsh (Khurana). We had a lot of back and forth over what profession this guy should be. We didn't want him to be a mystery novel writer as in the original, because we thought that in an Indian Hindi context, a mystery novel writer, we don't have a tradition of... aristocratic people (writing) mystery novels and stuff. In fact, in the play Akarsh has put in lines about Gulshan Nanda who was a very popular writer, but he was never considered amongst the elites. I guess it's a bit of a tragedy in our country, the vernacular writers are never considered to be intellectually evolved as much as English writers or whatever. I don't know why that happens, but it happens. People might not admit it, but it does happen. So, yeah, Akarsh actually took care of all those things.

Don't miss Anil Wadhwa's photos and film memorabilia around the set of Saanp Seedi. (Image: Aadyam Theatre)

Sumeet, you play the younger man in the play where the woman is completely missing. What about the play interested you and what kind of prep did you do for it?

I'd read this play quite a few years back. (Back then) I was (playing) the younger actor, and I've managed to continue to be the younger actor after 10 years as well. But I always saw it as a performance piece. It's got all the raw material for two actors to just dive in and indulge in the craft of it. It's got enough literary value to it. It's got a little bit of a thriller element. It's got deceit. So it's touching on all those points, and it's for the actors to figure out how much do they want to indulge with it, how much do they think is necessary (to do, act) for a play like this. That was what was interesting to me.

Also, there's a very interesting transition vis-a-vis my character between the first and second half. In the first half, he comes across as a bit naive and straight, and then something happens to him and in the second half, he completely flips. In terms of preparation, I wanted the two characters to look visually and thematically different without really making it caricature-ish because it's easier to do that. I tried to stay away from that as much as I could; it should feel like two different people - that was the attempt. There's a certain voice to it, a certain body to it, all of that.

You have all worked together before. Tell us a little bit about your chemistry when you're rehearsing and on stage.

Sumeet Vyas: We've worked with each other for many years now, on different projects. Shubro and I have known each other for almost 23-24 years. He's seen me grow up, physically and I'm assuming emotionally. Same is with Kumud (Mishra). I've worked in plays with Shubro and Kumud, acted with them, directed them. Kumud has also acted in a web series that I had written, so I've exploited my friendship with him over the years. In that sense, there's no question of how the chemistry will be. It's amongst people you've always known and like to hang with and like to work with and you admire and you come in and you try and create something new. In fact, it's the opposite: if I have to pretend like I don't know Kumud, that would be an effort.

How would compare Sleuth with Saanp Seedi? What is your takeaway - is it a more sinister vibe in 'Saanp Seedi'? Or are there lighter moments that viewers can expect? How would you characterize it?

I think there is something for everyone in a play like this. Like Shubro rightly put it, we've tried to make it a little more accessible for a larger audience. We've not indulged in it so much that we leave the audience aside. There is a straightforward narrative to it and there is also a certain layer, which is our own indulgence. If you are interested in it, you'd probably see it. If you don't, then it's fine. You'd still have a complete experience of the play which has a fair amount of thrill in it, a little bit of humour in it. And hopefully you'll also see decent performances.

Kumud, you play the older man in the play. This is a character who is plotting something tricky, even mad in the play. What were your first thoughts when Shubhrajyoti and Sumeet put this idea to you, to do the role of the jealous husband in this play?

(translated from Hindi) I first tried to become younger (laughs). It was very 'mazedaar' (fun), because there was a comfort factor. We had all worked together before; and everybody is very good at what they do. Sumeet and I are being seen on stage together for the first time in a long time, so that was a mazedaar thing in itself. When Sumeet comes on stage, he takes a completely different form. He's so real. And that is very inspiring. To be able to draw some of these things from him, into your own performance, that is what is truly mazedaar.

Kumud Mishra plays a semi-retired, Goa-based, B-grade movie maker named Anil Wadhwa, and Sumeet Vyas plays architect Mayank Tiwari who's in love with Anil's wife, in Saanp Seedi. (Image: Aadyam Theatre)

Tell us about your preparation for this role, and especially a play where there's just two actors on stage for the entire duration.

Kumud Mishra: The burden of preparing was the director's really (laughs). Seriously, the script is very mazedaar and what I found even more mazedaar was what Akarsh has done with the script. It made our jobs as performers so much easier. Everything he gave us was to-the-point. He'd cut all the flab off the play. Everything that was between the line, he left up to the actors to explore. We've just done three shows (in Mumbai). It's still work-in-progress and we are finding more spaces and greater confidence to explore more, but it feels like it's working. I attribute it to the magic of the writing which solved so many things for the actors to build upon.

You've mentioned the word mazedaar a few times. Tell us an incident - in the play or in the making of it - that you found quite mazedaar.

I freeze a bit in the face of such questions. I can't recall any...

Sumeet, could you perhaps help?

Yeah, one of the most fun things was that Kumud's character is a bit of a megalomaniac; he's in love with himself. So, there's memorabilia in his house, his photos and his portraits things like that. And we kept thinking that to a large section of old-school actors, this wouldn't seem funny - like a completely natural thing to do in their houses. It's for people like us that we find it very funny that he's put his own pictures in the house (laughs).

Kumud ji, anything?

I had fun hearing that, but I still can't recall anything in particular.

So, this is a play where we have two men locking horns over a woman but that woman is nowhere to be seen in the play. Were you at all concerned about any misogynistic streaks or readings of the play?

Vyas: Kumud's character is old-school; one could characterize it as a little bit of a misogynist, and he has his own reasons for it. And my character, because he is younger, is more up-to-date; he's a little more cautious and careful. But there's also definitely a comment on how it's so deeply ingrained, these misogynistic tendencies that we've grown up watching for centuries, that even when we see a seemingly modern person, you'd still see hints of that in his behaviour as well. So, we are aware of it, and we've made a comment on it for those who catch it as well.

The woman is spoken about in the play; but none of the characters is unidimensional in the play. They are all multidimensional. They all have their own grey areas, including the woman in question. A good script is when you are able to empathize with the good and the bad.

In the original play, there are a lot of games and a lot of trickery. Is that also something we see in Saanp Seedi?

Vyas: There are tricks, but in the original, Kumud's character is obsessed with board games. But that also comes from the place that it's placed in. In India, we're not a country which is obsessed with board games.

Barat: We are not a country which like gets together and plays board games as family events. Chaupal and Ganjifa cards or any of these games, their origins might lie in India, but it's not a part of your social conduct every day. At least in modern India, in contemporary India. In the original, the character (of the older man) is fashioned around that (his love of games). He's a writer of mystery novels who likes these ancient board games and collects them and keeps them and stuff like that. It's part of his intrigue or his persona that he's trying to project as well. In our case, since the profession is different, the man is a different being from a different planet altogether. So playing those tricks which were there in the original would not have worked is what I think.

Mishra: I'm waiting for someone to even play Ludo with me. Ludo mein main sabko tabah kar deta hoon.

Any more mazedaar occurrences?

Mishra: Teeno chuppi kha gaye.

Anything during the rehearsals?

It was a struggle for me to remember the lines and I worried about whether I am going to remember all my lines.

That's hard to believe...

Mishra: No, no, my director knows it well.

Vyas: (In Hindi) It's mazedaar how I reminded him of his lines all through rehearsals and in one Mumbai show, I forgot two lines of my own dialogue. Kumud ji looked and me, and I thought he had again forgotten his lines but that's fine, we'll work around it. That was the level of my confidence and ignorance, and I realized later that I was the one who'd forgotten my lines!

Barat: That's about these two. But when you're doing a play like this, there is a huge support team. And some of the chats were quite mazedaar. Because, see, theatre groups are not used to a setup which is corporate in nature or a corporatized setup where sometimes you say you'll do something by 4:30 but you finish it by 2:30 only. I'm not trying to bring down the corporate culture or anything, I'm just saying that there is a basic natural difference... I am a silent presence in the group chats. Once, I tried to get out of the group chat but they added me back because I have to be in the know of everything apparently.

But rehearsals were pretty straightforward. Because these are actors with whom you discuss something or you want to give it a certain direction, you have a 5-minute chat with them and a little bit of debate over a certain point and then they just go up on to the floor and just do it. And sometimes it's exactly what you had wanted. Sometimes it is even beyond what you had thought of. So it's always very gratifying to work with actors like this.

Saanp Seedi will be staged at Kamani Auditorium in Delhi on March 29 at 7.30pm, and on March 30 at 4.30 pm and 7.30 pm. The duration is around 90 minutes. Entry for 15 years and above. Tickets on district.in

World Theatre Day is observed each year on March 27, to mark the opening of the 'Theatre of Nations' season in Paris in 1962.