Lost and found at Kumbh Mela

Blood brothers plus Kumbh Mela is equal to Manmohan Desai-style filmy drama, right? Not quite, says Trishla Patel, whose play Kumbh Katha turns the Bollywood lost-and-found storyline on its head

Blood brothers plus Kumbh Mela is equal to Manmohan Desai-style filmy drama, right? Not quite, says Trishla Patel, whose play Kumbh Katha turns the Bollywood lost-and-found storyline on its head

T Pot Productions' Kumbh Katha seems to have all the trappings of a Manmohan Desai-inspired storyline blood brothers, kalyug, and of course the Kumbh Mela.

The very mention of the mela conjures up an image of a desperate (although very careless) Nirupa Roy looking for her lost sons.

But Trishla Patel, writer-director of the play assures us that her latest baby deals with the much more complex mythology behind the mela.



Trishla's own journey to the Maha Kumbh Mela earlier this year, piqued her curiosity in "the myth of the fifth drop of Amrit and the mystery around it."

According to Hindu mythology, the Gods had lost their strength and had to create amrit (an immortal nectar) in order to regain their powers.

The Gods had to call a truce with the demons in order to create the amrit by churning the Ksheer Sagar and had to share it with the demons.

When the kumbh (urn) containing the amrit appeared, a fight ensued between the gods and demons resulting in four drops of the amrit spilling from the kumbh.
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The four places where the drops fell Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik is where the Kumbh Mela is held.

Trishla's play, however, deals with the fictional fifth drop of amrit. The protagonists of the Kumbh Katha set off in search of this fifth pious place, in an attempt to save the world from doomsday.

"The play is about the journey of two blood brothers who have to bring to light the place where the fifth drop fell, and try and end kalyug (the last age of evolution, according to Hindu scriptures, ridden with atrocities), thereby saving the world," says Trishla.

On: Today at 9 pm, June 16, 17 at 6 pm and 9 pm at Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Vile Parle (W).
Call: 26149546. Tickets: Rs 80 (on June 15, 16), Rs 150 (June 17).

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