Rating:
Team:
Director- Chandrakant Kulkarni
Cast- Prasad Barve, Sankarshan Karhade, Amruta Deshmukh
Writer- Sankarshan Karhade
Music- Prashant Patki
Plot:
Aniket and Amruta, a married couple for 4 years, have started fighting on a daily basis. This problem reaches such a height that now they seek help in the form of a counsellor. The counsellor has some unique TERMS AND CONDITIONS which they must follow to find a way out.
Review:
Produced by Prashant Damle Fan Foundation, NIYAM V ATI LAGU, is yet another commercial entertainer from the Marathi natak circuit. The two-act play is directed by the auteur Chandrakant Kulkarni and written by Sankarshan Karhade. The play revolves around the idea of “Marriage as an Institution” and how most of us fail to maintain its balance just because we don’t acknowledge the efforts of our partners. The play brilliantly puts forward this idea with humour sprinkled with the perfect amount of emotional twists and turns.
The first act introduces us to the husband, Aniket (Sankarshan Karhade), a successful software engineer and the wife, Amruta (Amruta Deshmukh), a lonely housewife. Aniket’s success has kept him so busy with office work that he has started taking Amruta for granted. Amruta did sacrifice her job to prioritise the family but now the increasing loneliness inside her comes out in the form of anger every day. All they do is fight with each other, Amruta blaming him for taking her for granted and Aniket in return blaming her for not supporting him with his hectic work and constantly starting fights. Their marriage has reached such a stage that even calling their relatives for help isn’t working. Amruta’s sister suggests she seek the help of a marriage counsellor. And then after running out of options to make the marriage work, they visit the counsellor.
Sa. Da. Atirekar (Prasad Barve) is a very jolly and full-of-life person. He makes an exhilarating entry with red hot pants and a bright yellow t-shirt accompanied by suspenders. Just by looking at him, Aniket instantly regrets his decision. But once again after fighting for a while, they decide to give this a chance. Atirekar, as his name suggests, is a man of very unique methods of working. He puts forward a contract with some very weird TERMS AND CONDITIONS (NIYAM V ATI), which to the couple’s surprise aren’t mentioned in the contract. Atirekar explains to them how he will reveal the terms and conditions as their case progresses. Will the couple survive this test of time and help their marriage or will they take some extreme decisions and resort to divorce?
Before the curtain opens, a very very entertaining introduction of the play was announced by Prashant Damle, which instantly set up the energy in the auditorium. As soon as the first words came out of Sankarshan’s mouth the audience burst into laughter. His impeccable energy and comic timing will leave you gasping for breath after a point. His performance isn’t a surprise knowing he is the writer of the play as well. His idiosyncrasies make you laugh more. Amruta Deshmukh also plays her part well but just can’t manage to match the energy. Prasad Barve is hilarious too and his cuteness adds a quirky flavour to the play. I swear to god, no man could have directed this play better than Chandrakant Kulkarni. He just doesn’t miss. The perfect blend of humour and emotion is a recipe known to him the best. The emotional twists in the couple’s story also play an important part. Towards the climax, you will be left guessing if the tears rolling down your eyes are tears of joy or tears of melancholy.
Coming to the technical parts of the play, the lights are pretty much generic. The only thing that stood out in lighting was when the lights instantly dimmed every time a character was feeling emotionally low. The background score definitely plays its part aptly. There is also a beautiful melodious song in the second half. The first and second halves of the play are evenly poised. The play peaks with humour in the first 15-20 minutes when the couple starts to fight. The first half ends on an emotional cliffhanger and the second half starts with another emotional twist. The one-liners which are food for thought come up every now and then making the crowd give thunderous applause.
NIYAM VA ATI LAGU is a complete package and not even once will you regret watching this one with your family. It is absolutely hilarious and emotional at the same time. The one thing which will draw us towards the play, even more, is the human habit of peeking into others’ personal lives. This definitely gives us a kick, doesn’t it? Well, you have a chance now but this comes with a few terms and conditions. Watch NIYAM V ATI LAGU with all your family. It will be staged in Pune again next week.
Book your seat for next show here : BookmyShow
