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| Thin red line:Dialogue, the theatre club of Oxford Bookstore, presented excerpts from two Mahesh Dattani plays On a Muggy Night in Mumbai and Bravely Fought The Queen by The Red Curtain on Tuesday evening. The plays were directed by Prithviraj Choudhury and Aniruddha Maitra. Picture by Aranya Sen |
After steaming up the big screen for over a decade, Sonali Bendre is storming back to showbiz. We aren?t referring to the small screen shows, but to the sequel of a successful play. Those harsh on the lady with the longest legs in Bollywood blame it on the extra kilos she carries these days (the picture on right should say it all). After all, had she been her Sarfarosh self (remember the waterbaby act?), would she be plodding on to the stage? But we theatre-goers are glad that glamour (from Mandira B to Sonali B) is taking the play plunge.
Sonali appears in the title role of Aap Ki Soniya, Part II of the popular Farooque Sheikh-Shabana Azmi play Tumhari Amrita. ?I have gradually been doing roles with substance over a period of time and Anaahat got a lot of critical acclaim,? says Sonali. ?Though I have never planned my life, the offer from the producers of Tumhari Amrita took me by surprise. But then I thought, why not? There is nothing that one can?t do if we put our mind and heart in it.?
For starters, the stage felt quite different from the lights-camera-action gig she was used to. ?In cinema, there are always retakes and mistakes can be corrected immediately, but on stage you are the master and until the end or maybe the mid-break, no one can make you read your lines their way.?
Any pressure in reprising Shabana?s role? ?She is a great actress and to even compare would be wrong. I am giving it my best shot,? says Sonali. And the Hamma hamma girl is going all ga-ga about her co-actor. ?Farooque is lovely to work with as he is a wonderful human being who makes you laugh, tells the most interesting stories and supports you as an actor.?
The play that premiered in Dubai was received very warmly. ?There was a standing ovation and we had to do the play again next day by popular demand,? recalls Sonali. But that doesn?t mean that the Bendre babe will bid bye to celluloid. ?I am still looking at around two scripts a day, but I am sure I won?t do films just to be in the race. I must have good central and meaty roles.?
Any chances of coming to Calcutta with Aap Ki Soniya? ?Hopefully, YES!? comes the resounding reply.
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| Sonali Bendre: Fresh act |
Last November, Rati Agnihotri breezed through Calcutta to unveil a menopause clinic at a city hospital. This October, she touches down again to fall in love all over again. Actress-producer Vandana Sajnani?s Hinglish play Love Hua Once More finds the Ek Duje Ke Liye girl playing pretty divorcee Sonia Singh planning to tie the knot for a second time with a Bollywood script-writer (Rajesh Khattar).
The match-making nanny is none other than the scriptwriter?s sister (played by Sajnani herself) who tries to cheer up her widower brother by fixing a date with Rati. Though dead against the idea initially, a chance chat over the phone gets the two interested. They meet up, like each other and decide to exchange vows, but not before a bumpy ride ? making for some rib-tickling comedy ? to the altar.
After debuting on stage with Sajnani?s Please Divorce Me Darling ? followed by screen cameos in Hum Tum and Kyun! Ho Gaya Na? ? Rati returns to theatre with Love Hua... The Calcutta show is part of the four-city Signature Theatre Festival, presented by Spandan and stretching over three weeks. After houseful shows in Delhi and Goa, the curtains rise on Rati and Love Hua? at GD Birla Sabhagar, 6.30 pm, on October 1 and 2.
He may not be Bond-ed yet, but Hugh Jackman?s bond with Broadway ended on a high recently at the Imperial Theatre. The last show of his epic 12-month run as Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz was a glittering affair. His performance number 397 in 365 days was a sell-out with 1,400 fans paying between $251 and $351 for tickets. In fact, two tickets, which offered front-row seats and entry to the private after-party, sold on eBay for a whopping $15,580.
In the audience were Nancy Sinatra, Matt Damon, Jerry Springer, Barbara Walters, Carole Bayer Sager and other stars. A highlight: Jackman pulling Walters and Damon on stage and doing a lap dance, sending the crowd into frenzy.
The 35-year-old Jackman has already won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and it would be difficult to find someone to slip into his stage shoes now that he has ended his Broadway run. Under him, The Boy from Oz totted up $42 million in ticket sales, making it one of the most successful Broadway shows of the year, just behind The Producers.
Jackman did eight shows a week, taking only Mondays off. He sang 20 of the 27 songs and was only absent from the stage for about three minutes.
