On the podium at Canvas Laugh Factory, two boys clad in cream kurta and dhoti narrate on stage animatedly how Manthara, the maid in Ramayana, convinced Kaikeyi, lord Ram’s stepmother, that her real son, Bharat, was the rightful heir of Ayodhya. After the brief lead-in, the stage is shrouded in darkness and lit up again with Kaikeyi (Ayesha Nair) admiring herself in an imaginary mirror while Manthara (Neelima Mehra) comes and poisons her mind. At this juncture, director Vishal Asrani, seated in the auditorium, instructs Nair to mellow down her performance. With just three days left for the performance, Asrani has a zillion things to finish such as getting the props, fine-tuning the sets and ensuring the actors polish their performances, he informs me during the break.u00a0

Hriday Malhotra as Ravan (left) and Yashraj Singh as Ram in Ramayana For Kids. Pic/ Bipin Kokateu00a0