The 15th Odeon Theatre Festival in association with t2 came to a fitting end with thespians like Bratya Basu, Debshankar Haldar and Sharman Joshi coming together to perform plays. The four-day theatre festival also saw colleges and theatre groups take part in various competitions. t2 brings you the action from the sidelines of the guest performances on February 24 and 25:

MULYO

What happens when two brothers drift apart, and then come together after years, on the pretext of evaluating their deceased father’s property? Mulyo, directed by Bratya Basu, and featuring Debshankar Haldar, Senjuti Mukhopadhyay, Rajat Ganguly and Basu, is about the emotionally-charged reunion between the brothers. 

Staged at GD Birla Sabhagar on February 24, the play begins with the elder brother — a cop — played by Haldar, and his wife, played by Mukhopadhyay, at the two brothers’ childhood home, waiting for a buyer to come and evaluate their father’s old furniture. The younger brother, played by Basu, is a famous doctor. 

Basu enters the house and soon, a reconciliation follows, marked by emotional outbursts from both as they realise that their estrangement was caused by their father’s habit of withholding information — the father that the elder brother worshipped and the younger brother begrudged. 

ORGANISER SPEAK: “Vodafone as a brand has always encouraged and appreciated the cultural heritage of the state, the Vodafone Odeon Theatre Festival being a perfect example of this,” said Arvinder Singh Sachdev (inset), business head, Calcutta and rest of Bengal, Vodafone India 

“I love watching plays.  Bratya Basu and Debshankar Haldar were brilliant,” said Manasi Dhar, a homemaker.

“This was my first Bengali play and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I particularly loved Rajat Ganguly’s performance. Soumitra Chatterjee’s appearance after the play was an added incentive,” said Sheetal Agarwal, who came with husband Pawan. 

“Being a theatre enthusiast, this was a play that I couldn’t miss. The plot and the performances were extraordinary and I enjoyed every minute of it,” said Anjura Khatun, first-year, MA in Bengali, Rabindra Bharati University. 

Text: Anannya Sarkar
Pictures: Biswajit Kundu 

MAIN AUR TUM

On February 25, Bollywood actor Sharman Joshi and Marathi TV actress Tejashri Pradhan staged their popular Hindi play, Main Aur Tum. Directed by Sharman, it is about how a married man and a woman get involved after a chance meeting. Sharman plays a Calcutta-based chartered accountant while Tejashri plays a Marathi poet. The duo’s story was presented in a light-hearted manner with many laughs and jokes in the middle, as they decide to meet every year so that they don’t have to disrupt their married lives. The play tells the story of how they continued with their meet-ups for a dose of romance outside their marriages yet helping the other when they’re going through personal crises. 

“The play was beautifully directed and very well-performed. Kudos to the script-writer as well. The concept is very modern and I loved how the relationship was shown. There was romance yet none of the two tried to break the other’s marriage,” said Puja Bagrecha, a homemaker.

“ The performances were very good! It’s a modern concept and I liked how the entire story was shown in good spirit,” said Anjani Sethia, a jewellery designer.

Text: Subhojit Ghosh
Pictures: Biswajit Kundu