MANIPAL: Aaina Dramatics, the theatre club of Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) staged their major production for the semester, a play titled ‘Bade Miyaan Deewane’ at the Innovation Centre’s (IC) Stairs, on April 7.
The play was centred around the story of an extravagant 78-year-old man who dwelled on his youth. The protagonist of the play refused to believe that he had aged and continued living his luxurious lifestyle. Everything went downhill when he fell for a very young woman who also happened to be his son’s love interest. From there, the plot took several twists and turns and went on to explore emotions like jealousy, misunderstandings, and the ageist thinking of society.
The show was directed by Rakshit Yaduvanshi and Gaurav Chatterjee. “The play Bade Miyaan Deewane is a funny one; but as we started reading the script, we found that it covered all domains and not just comedy. It was a great experience to work on such a good play and learn about the culture depicted in it,” explained the director’s note, while introducing the production.
The performance also had elements of music and dance in between which gave it a completely different feel by making it interactive – thereby giving life to the characters from the story.
“When I read the script for the first time, I wanted to play some other role because I wasn’t sure if I would have been able to pull off the role of an old man. I have never played a character with age. The script is well written and Imran Rasheed brought the best out of every character in the play through his writing,” said Prateek Singh, who played the role of Meer, the production’s lead role.
Reminiscing over memories in the making of the play, he added, “We used to practice from six in the evening till two in the night, and for eight hours, every day. I was supposed to walk and talk like an old man, even during the dinner break.”
Overall, the play was received well by the audience and saw appreciation through applause and standing ovation.