Bharati Perwani is directing and acting in Weekend, an adaptation of Nirmal Verma’s famous trilogy Teen Ekant
While Bharati Perwani has acted in a number of plays, Weekend marks her debut as a director. The actor from the Mumbai-based collective Qissa Kothi, has adapted Nirmal Verma’s famous trilogy Teen Ekant, which conveys the innermost thoughts of a woman, who is bound by the thread of solitude. She tells us more about the play and her performance...
On her own
Having acted in plays such as Her letters, Adhe Adhure, Mare Gaye Gulfam, Pratima, Anand Raghunandan, Lok Shakuntal, Kasumal Sapno and Baki Itihas among others, Bharati always thought direction wasn’t that tough a job. All that changed after she decided to direct Weekend. “I now understand that a director has to think of many other things besides the performances. It has been a learning experience for me,” says the actor, who is performing a solo piece with this play. “This is the first time I will be performing a solo act on stage,” she tells us. While many do not prefer directing themselves on stage, Bharati has tried that with this play but laughingly tells us that it’s not as easy as it looks. “I would record myself, watch it and keep correcting my performance. We have used various techniques, including voiceovers in the staging of the show to make it interesting,” she says, adding that it’s taken almost an entire year to prepare this play.
Empowered thoughts
Talking more about the play which she herself has adapted from the original text, Bharati says that it was the power of the story and writing that appealed to her. “After Saadat Hasan Manto, Nirmal Verma is one writer I discovered who talks about women and their thoughts with such an open mind,” she says. This solo performance is about a woman, who is in love with a married man and they meet every weekend. The girl finds it difficult to accept that their relationship has no name, hence it’s unacceptable in the society. But eventually, she realises that whatever they have between them is enough for her and she does not need validation from anyone. “It’s a long story and I did not want to do it realistically. I have given my own take on it,” she concludes.
Weekend will be staged today at Si Bambai, Kala Ghoda at 7 pm.
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