Writer and director Rakesh Bedi’s play, Patte Khul Gaye, depicts that there are many layers behind every person and when situations arise, even the closest friends and relatives can be shocked at the person who they think they know. By Ayushi Sharma
Do you think you really know the closest person of your life inside-out? What if one day you find out that he’s not actually who he pretends to be? Well, writer, director and actor, Rakesh Bedi’s latest play, Patte Khul Gaye, exposes the hypocrisy and double standards that exist in our society. “Patte Khul Gaye is a metaphor which means you are exposed. Whenever we stare into adversity, we drop our guard and our true self emerges. My play depicts that there are various layers behind every person and when some situations arise, one can be shocked to find out the s/he is not the same person anymore who they think they knew,” he says.
It’s a story of Dr Manoj Rai (played by Anant Mahadevan) and his wife Manju Rai (played by Roopali Ganguli), who have invited their close group of friends for dinner. Manju has planned a lavish menu and has been doing the preparations since the past three days. With their childhood friend Bob, comes Shireen (played by Kishwar Merchant), who is extremely rich and does not belong to the middle class strata, like the rest of them.
The message that Rakesh is trying to convey is that the rich have all the privileges and Shireen argues with Manju that she has worked hard to get them. However, Manju does not agree with her. Her belief is that the rich have reached where they are because of the middle class as they are the ones who pay huge taxes. She asserts, ‘Don’t forget that you are because of us’.
“Ek tarazu ki sui agar beech mein hogi tabhi toh society chalegi,” feels the actor, who has director plays like Mera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha, Shimla Coffee House and Jab We Separated.
Proceeding further, all the characters get together and within no time their masks start falling off and secrets of one and all start tumbling out to the fore. The ultra rich Shireen exposes the middle class values and hypocrisy of the others and condescendingly exposes their pitiable condition. It’s like a war between both strata of society — rich and the middle class. She tells them how the middle class is always showing off what it has and hiding under the carpet what it does not. The lady of the house Manju refuses to buy this argument and takes Shireen head on and strongly defends the great Indian middle class.
Ask Rakesh where have he taken the references from to make such arguments? He states an instance from his life saying, “You go to any part of India, you will find such people who spend huge amount on weddings just for the motive of showing off. It’s shocking to see. I can recall that I went to visit a friend once and he took me to somebody’s wedding. The family where we went took me to show all the arrangements that were done for their daughter’s big day. Lastly, he took me to the stall of the deserts and very proudly said, Bedi sahab, ‘please choose any desert of your choice as we have 54 different varieties’. It was very evident from his actions that he was trying to impress me but I had a feeling of anger. I am a person who would be interested in all this stuff. I really feel sad. I mean is there even a point of keeping 54 varieties of something just because you want some kind of approval from the society? Aap 2, chalo zada se zada 3 ya fir 4 desserts rakhlo lekin voh bhi toh akhir mein muh hi meetha karenge na. It’s like participating in a rat race, which you already know that nobody is going to win and which is never going to end.”
The story takes unexpected turns and hostess Manju, who has toiled for three days for the dinner, is unable to even serve the starters as the dinner and the party goes for a toss. To top it all, one of the guests Akela (played by Rakesh Bedi), a poet comes out with a funny couplet at the drop of a hat, to ease tense moments.
Rakesh believes that the play is an unbelievable comic journey full of unpredictable twists and turns that is sure to leave the audience in splits. For him, entertainment is the bottom line for everything that he does. “The main principle of life is to convey anything with a hint of humour. No matter how serious the might be, I would try and move it with the element of comedy,” says he.
(The play will be staged today at 4 pm and 7 pm and tomorrow at 3.30 pm at Shri Ram Centre, Mandi House.)