The Play’s the Thing

Three years ago, Sharman Joshi found himself mightily impressed by the innovative plot and elaborate sets of the farcical murder mystery The Play That Goes Wrong when he saw it in London’s West End. He then rushed to acquire the rights from producers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields of the Mischief Theatre Company.

But it was not until last month that his Gujarati adaptation, Naatak Na Naatak Nu Naatak, finally made its debut in Mumbai. Featuring Kamlesh Oza, Disha Upadhyay, Hemang Vyas, Karan Bhanushali and Dhaval Thakkar, among others, the production received an enthusiastic response. So Joshi now aims follow-up productions in Hindi, English and Marathi by the end of this year.

“The main challenge in bringing any play to India that is staged at West End or Broadway is that the sets of such productions are rather elaborate,” he says. “It’s not practically possible to put them up here because we don’t have such theatres. I liked the plot of The Play That Goes Wrong and its sets that gave a larger-than-life experience to the audience but could be moved seamlessly from one venue to another.”

Though the 3 Idiots actor was keen to act in it as well, he couldn’t due to film commitments. That said, after a decade of acting in movies, Joshi returned to theatre in 2015 with Raju Raja Ram Aur Main, a Hindi adaptation of the Marathi play Sahi Re Sahi. He won rave reviews for his portrayal of all four lead characters. Last year, he produced Main Aur Tum, his directorial debut—an adaptation of Same Time, Next Year by Bernard Slade.

Hailing from a family of theatre actors (his father, Arvind, was an acclaimed actor, writer and director, and his aunt Sarita is prominent on the Gujarati theatre circuit), Joshi says getting back to the stage helped sharpen his acting.

“I feel my timing has improved. As a theatre actor, you have to be on top of the game mentally as well as physically. Unlike films, on stage, you get only that one shot to put forward a perfect performance.”

“ON STAGE, YOU ONLY GET ONE SHOT AT A PERFECT PERFORMANCE”