"Heads Ya Tails" ... marked by brilliant acting and a taut script. — Pic. by R. Ragu
"HEADS YA tails?" presented by the Madras Sterling Round Table 123 and the Rotary Club of Madras Downtown at the Kamaraj Arangam on December 4 had a lot going for it. Brilliant acting by the lead players for one, a tight script for another and sets that captured the milieu to the last detail. What failed initially was the mike. Experienced actors Nandita Das and Sushant Singh had to put up with the chagrin of the audience telling them that they couldn't hear a word.
As such, the Hindi play began 45 minutes late (to the justifiable impatience of the viewers) and the problem with the mike brought the curtains down almost as soon as they went up. But the suave compere took the wind out of the audience's sails by reminding them that this was a show for charity and as members of voluntary organisations, they were used to working for causes and not as event managers. A smart move if there was one but it didn't excuse the shoddy arrangements and the delay.
The initial glitches were forgotten as the arresting Nandita and the intense Sushant, who played the young couple Madhuri and Sameer, sucked the viewers into the emotional tangles of a marital relationship. From the familiar beginning of a young, pretty housewife waiting for her husband to return to their rather shabby flat after a hard day's work, the play moved into more complex terrain and the deeper issues that trouble a relationship.
The rabid consumerism in society that twists contemporary life out of shape making luxuries seem like necessities, and the deadening of sensibilities that quench the fire of idealism were hammered home. As the middle class is trapped in a cage of material aspirations and dreams of social mobility, much is tossed out of the window including values and a troublesome conscience.
Through the character of Sushant the playwright Prashant Dalvi spoke of the warping that takes place when those with conviction encounter misinformation and manipulation on a daily basis.
When the exhausted Sameer comes home, he is incensed by everything around him. The newspaper he picks up to read in his living room has a skewed priority in the manner in which it carries the news. As he raves and rants, Madhuri is preoccupied with her beauty routine and doesn't pay much heed. She is shattered out of her complacency when Sameer reveals the proposal his boss Malhotra has made that day — a promotion in return for the favour of spending a night with Madhuri. She is furious when she comes to know that Sameer hasn't rejected the proposal outright. As the couple dialogues long into the night, they explore a range of issues that disturbs them as a couple and as members of society. Their desire to better their life comes at a price and they are prepared to pay it, stilling their inner voice. The ending lacked subtlety. The playwright could have conveyed much by stopping with the previous scene.
Plays on the man-woman relationship are a frequent feature of the theatre scene both in the West and here. But "Heads Ya Tails?" though following a formatted theme managed to throw up emotional highpoints and flashes of humour. Each portion of the dialogue fitted neatly into the other in the script that was as tautly wound as a spring and uncoiled as smoothly as a rope.
But there was too much dialogue and hardly any spells of introspective silence and reflection. The second half when the couple puts away their groceries dragged a bit. Their conversation and clashes were true to life but the catalyst — of a lusting boss — that sets off the emotional upheavals and analyses, was a hackneyed device as was the story they tell each other.
Nanditha as the initially chirpy wife was too hyper. But as the play progressed, she displayed her emotions effortlessly and aided by a clear, strong voice proved she is as good an actor on the stage as on the screen. Sushant as the man with a social conscience matched her step by step. His passionate outbursts and remorse rang true. But his outbursts were one too many.
Directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni, "Heads Na Tails?" gave Chennai audiences a rare opportunity to watch a serious Hindi play instead of the comedies that usually come in from Delhi or Mumbai. To those who frequent mainstream Tamil theatre, it showed how the mainstream need not mean the maudlin or the mundane.
KAUSALYA SANTHANAM
From The Hindu dated 10/12/2004
