SECRETS & TRUTH
In Jab Khuli Kitaab, Aadyam Theatre’s third production this year, the action begins when 68-year-old Anusuya (Irawati Harshe Mayadev) wakes up from a coma. Almost immediately, she reveals her brief affair with her husband’s assistant 48 years ago. Her husband , 72-yearold Gopal Nautiyal (Saurabh Shukla), is predictably shattered. He’s also livid—and files for divorce. But despite being hurt and furious, he refuses to allow his lawyer to cast any aspersion on his wife’s character, which results in the play’s funniest as well as most touching moments.
Anusuya, whom Mayadev plays to perfection, is unapologetic about her week-long relationship with the assistant, who wooed her with poetry. After all, it was shairi that briefly relieved the monotony of her humdrum life as an efficient housewife. “I was a wife, a daughter-inlaw, a mother, but did anyone realise how alone I was?” Anusuya asks her husband. So, though you sympathise with the devoted Gopal, your heart goes out to Anusuya as well.
Despite its light tone, the play raises many questions. Should a marital relationship be an open book, or are some secrets best kept hidden? Was Anusuya being selfish by revealing an
incident that happened so long ago? Was Gopal being insensitive asking for divorce from a wife who is battling death? Can Anusuya and Gopal’s relationship get a fresh lease of life on the basis of a better understanding?
Shukla, a national awardwinning actor, has written and directed the play. He reveals that it was a Rumi saying that set him thinking as a writer. The saying ‘Light enters through a crack’ is, perhaps, what sums up the essence of the play.
As the story unfolds, it reveals many cracks in the Nautiyal family, which loves and fights in equal measure. Shukla’s skill as a writer lies in delineating them without being judgemental. He uses wit and satire to highlight dark truths as well as the absurdity of many a situation. And the obvious love between Anusuya and Gopal is heart-warming. The peppy chorus, which pops up to sing and dance and offer a redundant commentary on the story, however, undercuts the strong performances and incisive script.