Sharman Joshi excited about his theatre stint

Critics vouch for his comic timing and audiences love his humour and while Sharman Joshi has already proved his acting prowess onscreen, the actor is equally excited about his upcoming play Raju Raja Ram Aur Main. "It's been more then 10 years that I left theatre. I started with it and it always good to go back from where you start," he says. Joshi's last play was the Gujarati version of the same one with which he comes back on stage. "I'd done this play 10 years ago in Gujarati and we ran for about 350 shows," he adds. Raju Raja Ram Aur Main, in which the actor plays four characters, is the Hindi version of Marathi play Sahi Re Sahi.

Play it on
Joshi says that the play is a laugh riot. "It is intelligent comedy. There's never a dull moment in the play. And the script offers all the actors to test their potential," he says. Madan Sukhnandani, an industrialist catches his second wife red-handed with her lover. The lover is none other than Sukhnandani's PA. With tempers running high, the husband falls prey to the cheating wife and he gets murdered. While the corpse is hidden, an imposter is brought in to get the property willed to the wife. But this plan also falls flat. Sukhnandani has several undated wills in circulation, and which are in the possession of his daughter and other relatives. As many as three look alikes of Sukhnandani appear on the scene. Confusion ensues but justice is done ultimately.

Four roles
"It's not easy to play four characters, but then it helps you push the envelope," says Joshi adding that the camaraderie with the director helped him sail through it successfully. Kedar Shinde has directed the actor for a movie with Tabu before. Though the movie To Baat Pakki didnt do well, the friendship survived and when he decided to come back to theatre, Shinde was there to direct him again. "I wanted a break, and what better one to come back to theatre. But how easy it is to juggle between theatre and movies? "There's no problem at all. I have finished work on my films Super Nani and begin shooting for another film in September. Raju Raja... will not clash with my films," he says.

Love for stage
Joshi says that theatre is like a retreat. "It is like an exotoc holiday. You unwind yourself, go back to yourself, know yourself better... Theatre's kind of rejuvenating yourself, it helps an artiste nurture himself. Everybody who has worked in theatre should go back to it once in a while, it is an amazing feeling," he says. So any chances of he directing a play someday? "Not now. I am still waiting for the that voice from within to tell me that," he says.

When and Where: August 15 at NCPA from 7 pm onwards