GET HIGH ON LAUGHTER
Expect nothing but a comedic chaos as Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijayakar take centre stage this Saturday
We don’t want to offend anybody and we haven’t really done so in the past with our shows. KUNAL VIJAYKAR, ACTOR We have to do different things to survive. I have two children, ageing parents, and with 18% GST, you have to keep working to pay bills. CYRUS BROACHA, ACTORCOMEDIAN
Calling it a collection of “really silly stories”, instead of calling it a play, Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Vijayakar are back on stage with a new act titled How I Met Your Father. The premise of the show has Cyrus’s real-life daughter, Maya having a conversation with Kunal on how the latter met her father. Before the premiere of the show on Saturday, the comic duo talks — not so seriously — about working together for 25 years, their chemistry and their goofups on stage.
Is there anything common between the play and the popular American sitcom, How I Met Your Mother?
Vijayakar: Well, it has nothing to do with the American sitcom, besides the fact that play starts with Cyrus’s young daughter, who is only 10-years-old, asking me ‘How did you meet my father?’ That’s the starting point of the show. It takes off from there and gets into a lot of funny situations.
It’s a brand new Raell Padamsee production with Cyrus, Gopal Dutt and me in the cast. It’s a stand-up meets sketch comedy, and it’s hilarious. It talks about where Cyrus and I met as young men, and the excitement we went through as we discovered life, career, work, and theatre.
Does your friendship help your performance on stage?
Vijayakar: I don’t know. People find us and our chemistry funny. We have been working together for 25 years. I think ’91 was when we first worked together. It was in a play with Raell, so life has come full circle.
Can we expect a lot of impromptu comedy on stage?
Broacha: Yes, our script is still not ready. But wait, we’ll be ready by Saturday and if you have booked your tickets, please don’t not come. We have some stand-up acts about real life situations. It’s not Macbeth or Hamlet — with proper plots, villains, heroes and romance. Romance is definitely not there, as we are three men on the stage. With due respect to same gender love, we have no romance for sure.
What brings you back to theatre?
Broacha: Majboori (Desperation). We have no choice. We have to do different things to survive. I have two children, ageing parents, and with 18% GST, you have to keep working to pay bills. So, I think majboori is the best way to explain it. I think most of us have the same problems. Sadly, we just live to die. But I must say that we do have a little fun. The team is very entertaining.
Does it ever happen that while you are rehearsing, you end up in splits and stop rehearsing?
Broacha: Yes, if we get into a laughing fit, then it’s big trouble. It happens more with Gopal and me. Kunal is in a bad mood most of the time, so we are pretty safe. Kunal has reached a point in life where he is angry about everything. He is like Amitabh Bachchan gone wrong from the ’80s. But Gopal and I have these laughing fits. To be honest, the trick is to avoid eye contact if you don’t want to get into a laughing fit.
Have you guys ever goofedup while performing on stage?
Vijayakar: Have I goofed-up while being on stage? At every show. I have this problem where I forget lines. And every show is a different show, because I am saying something new in every show. Thankfully, I’m working with Cyrus, who covers up for me all the time, but with the format that we are doing, it [remembering our exact lines] doesn’t matter that much. But yes, there are a lot of goof ups, and I fumble with my lines all the time.
With everything going under the public scanner nowadays, because of social media, are you
more careful with your script?
Vijayakar: No. I think we have got our own form of censorship. We don’t want to offend anybody and we haven’t really done so in the past with our shows. In this play, it’s all funny. I play five different characters and so does Gopal — so it’s very challenging. Of course, Cyrus interacts with every one of us and also with the audience. We are looking forward to sharing this comedic chaos with others.