Page 74 - October 2018 converted

ASRANI REENACTS HIS

SHOLAY ACT FOR PLAY

MAKHICHOOS

expressive on stage as he is in films.

Fan or not, most cinelovers remember veteran actor-comedian How different is acting for the stage and for film?
Govardhan Asrani for his “Jailor” scene in 1975 blockbuster film Asrani maintained that there is no room for retakes in theatre, and
Sholay. A reenactment of it in his play “Makhichoos” comes after told IANS that the technique changes according to the medium.
almost 43 years, reminding us why the thespian is loved both on “It is the same actor in theatre and cinema, just the technique of

screen and stage. acting changes,” he said. For play’s co-producer Ishaan Soni,
“Makhichoos” — an Indianised adaptation of the French classic “theatre is an actor’s medium” whereas “film a director’s medium”.
The Miser — is an 80-minute Hindi play centered on the parsimony He said that Asrani does theatre whenever he wants to test his
of protagonist Topan Lal, and has Asrani play the lead. It was acting. Peppered with satirical jibes at politicians, and fugitive

staged at Shri Satya Sai Auditorium here and at a mall in Noida business tycoons, the slow-paced play strikes a chord among its
last week. intended target group of viewers aged 30 and above.
Sporting a traditional Himachali Topi and kurta jacket, the 77-year- “We had to make it contemporary. So, we threw in a lot of current
old infused a vibrant energy onto the stage, and brought alive the affairs and elements taken from the Indian social fabric to make it

character of Topan Lal, a miserly widower, who, in the process of relevant,” the show’s director Pranav Sachdeva explained.
finding spouses for his children, ends up in a comic confusion. Other cast members included Nirmal Kothari, Gurnavdeep Singh,
As two love stories Nupur Nagpal, Anubha Arora, and Nirupama Verma.
develop as sub-

plots in the play,
a money-minded
Topan Lal’s 10,000
buried gold coins

are discovered and
stolen. The show
culminates in a
win-win for all.

The play’s director
Pranav Sachdev, who also played Topan Lal’s son, said the idea
to induct the classic scene from “Sholay” was his.
From “Angrezon Ke Zamane Ke Jailor” of Sholay, a role etched in

the memory of most Indian filmgoers, Asrani became “Angrezon
Ke Zamane Ke Kanjoos”, and reenacted the scene in the same
voice.
Performing to a packed house, the Hera Pheri star was as

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