In memory of Dr Shesh

Updated On: 28 September, 2018 08:39 AM IST | Mumbai | Snigdha Hasan

A pan-Indian festival dedicated to the well-known Hindi playwright will open with a satirical musical in Mumbai

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Actors Paras Gandhi and Simran Tandon with Salim Arif. Pics/Sneha Kharabe

"Every classic gives you the opportunity to reinterpret it, add a few things and leave a few out, in a way that the core of the play remains," says noted theatre director Salim Arif, as he takes a break from rehearsals for his upcoming production. The classic in question is Dr Shankar Shesh’s Are! Mayavi Sarovar, which the renowned playwright wrote in 1974. The satire, which unfolds through the story of a king who transforms into a beautiful woman as he takes a dip in a pond with magical powers, grapples with gender inequality — something that seems to have become more complex in 45 years.

Dr Shankar Shesh; (right) Salim Arif