68 year-old turns into teenager, Parsi into Russian, to say Salaam India

Producer Rau00ebll Padamsee and director-actor Lushin Dubey bring you Salaam India, a new play that salutes the many paradoxes that make modern India

Producer Raell Padamsee and director-actor Lushin Dubey bring you Salaam India, a new play that salutes the many paradoxes that make modern India

As Delhi-based theatre actress Lushin Dubey walks through the narrow alleys that wind through Machhimar Nagar, a fishermen colony at one of Mumbai's hippest addresses, the Cuffe Parade high rises that fringe it, seem a symbolic affirmation of the sea of contrasts that characterise modern India.

Dubey believes that on introspection these sights offer a glimpse into the psyche of our countrymen a group that is poised for success in a race against the world, but one that fights everyday battles on the home-front.
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"Any Indian city today, offers paradoxes. So much has changed, and yet, so much is still the same," says Dubey, who was so moved by the paradoxes in Being Indian, Pavan K Verma's novel, that she had decided to breathe life into it well before she had set it down.
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"Though there aren't any characters in the book, we have tried to relay the subject through the experiences of 16 characters who will be played by Shena Gamat, Ashish Paliwal, Andrew Hoffland and myself."

Delhi-based theatre actress Lushin Dubey at Machhimar Nagar.

Written for stage by Nicholas Khargongor, Salaam India, is a potpourri of drama, humour and hope, "all the emotions that drive India today."

NRIs, politicians, tourists and slum-dwellers feature in the script, that the director-actor says encompasses 12 accents from across India.

And while switching identities and accents successively on stage posed one interesting challenge, what she enjoyed more was also playing characters from varied age groups.

"It's interesting to see me play Shena's daughter," she laughs, "and it's absolutely amazing to watch Andrew transform into a fourteen year-old."

Dubey explains that the relation between the 16 lives becomes apparent on stage, but each story is marvelous all on its own, like the one about a grandmother who wants her grandson to ensure a sound education.

While the audience will be sympathetic to her desire, they will also relate to the grandson's "I'd rather get quick" idea.

At: Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, on November 21 at 7 pm and November 22 at 6.30 pm. Tickets priced at Rs 200.

Call: 66223737.

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