Theatre is an addiction, says Muni Jha

If the name of the play fascinates you in itself, well it was intended to be, says seasoned actor and theatre producer Muni Jha on his latest offering — Kolaveri Family. “It was a colleague of mine from down south who happened to bring it up. She explained to us the right meaning of the word ‘Kolaveri’, and we realised that it very aptly defined the story that the play unravels. That’s when everyone was convinced to call it a Kolaveri Family,” says Jha. Clearly, the song (Kolaveri Di) that became a rage last year still holds
its sheen.

This two hours twenty minutes long Hindi comedy is produced by Muni Jha, the play is written by Manish Mehta, and directed by Tushar Joshi. It casts Muni Jha, Supriya Shukla, Rahul Lohani, Aditi Shirwakar Mallick, Nupur, Krishna, Jignesh and Tushar Trivedi.

The drama here dwells on the saas-bahu, father-son, dada and damad relations. The best part of it, says Jha, is the twist of the story and situation in Kolaveri Family. “The play revolves around a joint family concept, which is though impractical yet a hit when it comes to TV soaps,” he explains, adding,  “The eight characters in the play share almost equal stage space. They are all very significant to the script.”

Talking about dabbling with television and theatre, Jha says that theatre has always been his first love. “Theatre is like an addiction. I have spent half my life doing theatre shows. TV came much later. And each time we wrap up a TV shoot, I’m keen to get started with a theatre project,” he asserts. The play is a revised, Hindi adaptation of the original Gujarati play Sasra e Maari Sixer.