Veteran actress Seema Pahwa to experiment with live cooking on stage

Veteran actress Seema Pahwa to experiment with live cooking on stage, serving up a satire replete with flavours of a meaty saag that you can later feast on

Illustration/ Uday Mohite

Wearing bright red salwar kameez, actress Seema Pahwa sits in front of an intimate group in an open-air setting. Donning the character of Sumitra, a loud middle-aged Punjabi woman, she enacts eminent writer Bhisham Sahni's play, Saag Meat, produced by Kopal Theatre.

In the 45-minute solo act, she chats about her life, narrates stories of her former servant Jagga, and eventually reveals why he committed suicide.

Seema Pahwa at an earlier staging of Saag Meat

All this while, she adjusts flames of a kerosene stove perched on bricks in front of her. At frequent intervals, she adds ingredients from clay pots to a wide-bottomed utensil and stirs it constantly. While the guests keenly listen to her tales, meaty flavours from the simmering cauldron waft through the air. At the end of the performance, the audience actually gets to feast on the saag she has painstakingly prepared in front of them.

This Friday, Pahwa will enact this experimental performance on the terrace of Rangrez Films' office in Andheri. In case you miss this one, since it's open to only 40 guests (and only a few seats remain), fret not. Pahwa plans to do an encore in the last week of February.

Stick to the script
The 52-year-old actress, who became a household name as Badki in the popular DD show Hum Log in the 1980s, and went on to do a number of films and television shows in a career spanning three decades, performed Saag Meat for the first time back in 1982. The play was directed by Devraj Ankur. "It was in a mono act format and he showcased the main character to be wheelchair-bound. Three years back, when I wanted to make a play, I remembered this story. However, I wanted to present it in a different way and so, I decided to add the concept of actually cooking the Saag Meat. Since I have always enjoyed cooking, I've been able to manage it so far," says the actress, who hosted the first performance for a close-knit group on her residential terrace.

"My biggest worry was whether I'd be able to finish cooking the dish within the 45-minute narration," recalls the artiste, who sticks to the original script. "It's a satire on middle-class households and the apathy they show towards their domestic help but it doesn't victimise either party."

The guests ended up savouring the dish and Pahwa travelled with her mobile kitchen and the script to various locations across the country, and in Pakistan too. "Performing at an auditorium is not possible since most are averse to the idea of live cooking.

I have mainly performed in intimate spaces like farmhouses, terraces or at studio spaces."

Recipe tweaks
While saag is traditionally prepared in North India with sarson (mustard), a winter vegetable, Pahwa replaces it with spinach, which is available through the year.

"However, it's best to perform in winter because then, the audience can savour both, the performance and food, in an open-air setting."

A re-imagined avatar of the traditional saag, the recipe is Pahwa's creation, with ingredients like onion, garlic, ginger, dhania-jeera, garam masala, tomatoes, spinach, curd and boneless mutton. "There's no fixed timing for adding ingredients because the quantities differ according to the number of guests. I once performed for 250 guests, and sautéing onions was the biggest challenge. I have to keep a constant eye on the stove, adjust and readjust flames quickly so that the dish cooks fast and yet doesn't get burnt," shares the artiste, who whips up a paneer version for a vegetarian audience.

ON: February 10, 7.30 pm
AT: Andheri (W).
LOG ON TO: Rangrez Films on Facebook
COST: Rs500

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