For as long as he can remember, Makarand Deshpande has been immersed in theatre. He started off writing plays for intercollegiate competitions during his Narsee Monjee days, circa 1988-89. The maverick playwright has just finished his 50th original script, Epic Gadbad, marking a milestone in a glorious journey on stage.

This play, Makarand calls a farce. "The playwriting we talk about is after all a farce. The entertainment business is farce, so I thought why not write a farce," he says. This one is a conclusion to his previous play, Shakespearecha Mhatara, a hilarious take on King Lear. The word 'epic' came up after brainstorming with friend, director Ashutosh Gowariker. "I had thought of calling it 'gadbad', because it's a comedy of error of sorts. He suggested that the title needed to be loftier," says the 52-year-old director. Theatre, for him, began as a quest of finding answers to his own questions, Deshpande tells us.