Review: Piya Behrupiya

It’s often considered sacrilegious to suggest anyone can add value to Shakespeare’s work, but theatre veteran Atul Kumar appears to have accomplished just that with Piya Behrupiya, his Hindi adaptation of Twelfth Night. 


I couldn’t sleep all of Saturday night after I first saw the play at Rangsharada. So I went to watch it again on Sunday. I found that I could watch it again and again. No point telling you one of the world’s best known stories. Piya Behrupiya retains the essence of Twelfth Night but adds a dash of Indian-ness to it. It also stars some of the best looking men and women in the business.

Young Amitosh Nagpal, his twinkling eyes never failing to make contact with the ladies in the audience, walks on to the stage to tell us that it was he who translated the play and what a thankless job it was. He laments Shakespeare’s step-fatherly treatment of his character, Sebastian (Viola’s twin), and that he has all of four lines that too at the end of the play and wonders aloud if he could have played another role or if the actors could have performed the play in Shakespeare’s English, “Yeh thou-thine kar lete?! Dil par haath rakh kar kahiye, yeh Toby ka role main nahi kar sakta tha?” All the while his wicked smile held in place with dimples that can melt any woman’s heart!

Piya Behrupiya is replete with gender and identity confusion, so typical of many of the bard’s plays. While the play is essentially a musical comedy, it does have its deeply moving moments. 


The lovely Viola (Geetanjali Kulkarni, flawless, measured and layered) pinches your heart as she rubs off her fake moustache and lets her hair loose, getting in touch with her feminine side as she feels the pangs of love for Duke Orsino (Sagar Deshmukh, commanding stage presence, often hilariously breaks into Marathi while herding his co-actors off stage after a scene) who thinks she is a man. However, the homosexual subtext that underlines Sebastian and Antonio’s relationship is completely done away with, as Antonio only finds a passing mention in the play.

Piya Behrupiya stands out because of its songs. All actors are also gifted singers and there are generous dollops of folk music, ranging from Phool Singh’s (Neha Saraf, lively and confident) beautiful rendition of Kabir’s verses, to a hilarious Mata ka Jagrata where Gagan Riar who plays the perpetually inebriated Uncle Toby suddenly takes stage as Billu Dangerous and the rest of the cast doubles up as his Jagrata Mandali! There’s also a killer Qawwali at the end where Sebastian and Andrew (Mantra, his rich deep baritone making many a complex note sound as delicious as melting dark chocolate being washed down the throat with bitter black coffee) take on each other as they fight over Olivia (Mansi Multani, spunky Punjabi kudi with her accent adding just the right amount of zing).

Neha Saraf’s un-self-conscious performance as the delightful fool, Phool Singh, is as much a treat as is Trupti Khamakar’s spirited Maria. Watchout for Kahmakar’s impromptu kiss with Riar! There’s some girl on girl action too as Viola struggles against Olivia’s advances. 


The play is full of clever writing. Watch out for gems like Olivia’s “Bas use kiya aur reject!” or “Feeling koi kabootar thodi hai ki dana daalo toh aa jaye!” or “Aap kahaan ko belong karte ho?” to which Cesario replies, “I belong to a very good family!” Then there’s that priceless moment when Sebastian struggles to untie the knot of Olivia’s scarf with his teeth even as she sings and winks naughtily at the viewers.

A word of caution for the weak hearted… The most shocking scene in the play is where Malvolio (Saurabh Nayyar, perfect timing and a head full of heart-breakingly sexy curls) appears on stage in near transparent yellow tights, family jewels struggling to break out of barely concealed blue kachchhas! Toby trying to pull back his lungi even as Sebastian and Olivia share a ‘private’ moment or whenever he puts his hands into an unsuspecting Andrew’s pockets, had the audience doubling over with laughter!

Piya Behrupiya worked for me and the good news is there are more shows scheduled in other cities over the next three months.

I still wake up with “Darwaza kholegi hi nahi” or “O ri sakhi mangal gao ji” playing in my head, hoping the effortlessly charming dimpled Sebastian asked me out for a cup of coffee. I permit the other dangerously handsome young man in your mandali to share my number with you.

The Truth About Harrish Iyer

6000 e-mails, 1200 smses, 200 BBM messages, almost 500 calls… and still counting… That’s what the first 48 hours were like for Harrish Iyer after the Satyamev Jayate episode featuring him was first telecast this Sunday. Needless to say, it is all very overwhelming, for Harrish is a very simple man, not the publicity hungry media whore he is made out to be. Yes he has a publicist and a manager in me, but that’s because it is humanly impossible to keep track of the vast deluge of correspondence and media invitations he receives.

It all started as soon as Harrish appeared on Satyamev Jayate. Within minutes our phones started ringing. His friends, my friends, the press… There was a flood of BBM messages, Facebook and Twitter came alive. And then the e-mails started pouring in… an overwhelming majority from people who wrote in to say they were survivors too. Harrish diligently replied to as many as he could, but after a while it started to take a toll on him. Reading message after message where people… complete strangers bare their heart to you about their suffering… it gets to you… and sometimes the best thing to do is take a break.

I decided to take him out for lunch, and we headed for the food court of a mall nearby. We ate in silence for a while for that is what he craved most… there was too much going on in his head and he needed to calm down… We shared a Pav Bhaji pizza and a bottle of cola and decided to just walk to clear our heads and figure out a way to deal with the present situation. And that is when I saw how far Harrish is willing to push himself for what he believes in.

For those who think Satyamev Jayate was Harrish’s first TV appearance, let me give you the low down. Harrish has been speaking up for fellow survivors of Child Sexual Abuse for over a decade now. He has been on talk shows hosted by the likes of Barkha Dutt and Richa Anirudh. 


He has also given several print and radio interviews and has been counselling fellow survivors for over 10 years. It is not easy… to go back into the darkest part of your life and relive it, just so that you can help another survivor confront his worst demons. Harrish has been walking what many would describe as nothing short of a mental minefield, only so he can carry others on his shoulders and deliver them to the other side.

At the mall people first stole glances at him, then started pointing, then someone developed the courage to walk upto him and shake his hand. Then one by one nearly 50 people walked up to him to introduce their families and children to him, to take pictures with him. Harrish patiently obliged, but asked them for exactly one thing in return… that they promise to educate their children about CSA.

Even now, Harrish’s work is far from over. The restless soul that he is, Harrish is now planning to hold awareness campaigns in schools, housing societies and public spaces. So if you want Harrish Iyer to speak to speak to parents and children in your school or neighbourhood, or if you are a mall manager/PR, please get in touch with me, Deborah Grey on greyfrost1013@gmail.com

We are prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent a child from confronting the horrors that Harrish did. If that means more media whoring, more appearances on TV and radio, more interviews to websites and publications... then so be it!

And while I'm still in my Maa Durga avatar... let me kill one more demon that has raised it's ugly head... the Demon of Doubt... Many people doubt the genuineness of Harrish's story. They think that he took 11 long years to break the cycle of abuse because he is gay and was probably enjoying the abuse.

Well first of all, YES... Harrish Iyer is gay! So what? He DID NOT enjoy the abuse. No 7 year old would enjoy forced anal sex! Also, homosexuality and sexual abuse are not connected in ANY WAY! Harrish was born gay... just like I was born straight! Homophobia has to be wiped out! People don't become gay after being sexually abused! Get your facts right and stop this mud-slinging campaign against Harrish Iyer or for that matter even Aamir Khan! 

The entire team of Satyamev Jayate has worked very hard to ensure that the subject of CSA was dealt with in a very sensitive way. And nobody willingly withheld information about Harrish's sexuality. The show was about Child Sexual abuse and not Homosexuality. Just as no body would introduce Deborah Grey as a straight journalist, why should anyone be expected to introduce Harrish Iyer as a gay activist?

It's time we looked deep within ourselves and killed the Demons of Doubt that plague our souls... 

The Cleanest Picture

While the uproar over I&B Ministry’s high-handedness in cancelling the telecast of The Dirty Picture still continues, few have bothered to examine what really makes the said film ‘dirty’. There are no sex scenes, just one kissing scene, no bare back scenes… just a lot of cleavage thrust ‘shamelessly’ into the viewer’s face. 

But ask yourselves… doesn’t your friendly neighbourhood Bhalla aunty show off more when she bends to pick up the morning newspaper or your very own Sakku bai when she swabs the floor? And why is it offensive for a woman to show off her décolletage? What is wrong with acknowledging the existence of breasts? Would you ever be ashamed of having knees or fingers or a nose? What’s the harm in showing off an aesthetically packaged cleavage… 

We have all aspired at some point of time to be able to carry off a plunging neckline! (Plug! Plug! Plug!)

Haven’t we seen far greater skin show by Urmila Matondkar (“Hai Rama yeh kya hua?’) in Rangeela that has been telecast at least a hundred times on TV since its release 15 years ago? And what could possibly be dirtier than the sundry characters played by Shakti Kapoor? Haven’t Juhi Chawla and Anil Kapoor gyrated to, “Main maal gaadi tu dhakka laga” and “Khada hai khada hai khada hai” from Andaaz? I clearly remember watching Mamta Kulkarni and Mithun Chakravarty’s now legendary “Button meri kurti ka” being played on DD Metro’s Superhit Mukabala (now isn’t that a Sarkari channel?) And don’t even get me started on Madhuri in Beta and Khalnayak!

The Dirty Picture is perhaps one of the cleanest movies ever made… It’s not about sex… It’s about insecurity, politics and jealousy coming together in a wild orgy of hopelessness… and one woman who used her body to pull the right strings till she too was swept away by hubris and loneliness…

Colour Coded

A few weeks ago, I saw this video on YouTube titled Riley on Marketing. It shows a little girl, about 4 years old, questioning gender stereotyping in her own way. She wonders why all toys for girls are always pink. "Why do only girls end up with Pink Princesses", she asks. She also wonders why boys get to have superhero toys in all colours? She feels girls are tricked into buying the Princess dolls by their pink packaging, so that the boys can have the Superheroes. She reasons that although even girls want Superheroes, boys would never/rarely buy anything that's pink!

Little Riley got me thinking about a deeper problem... Why is pink a 'girly' colour? What's wrong with being 'girly'? Do boys actually dislike pink? Is it wrong for a girl to like pink? Does liking pink mean she is not as strong or independent as a 'Tom-Boy'? Does linking pink mean you are a bimbo? What's wrong with pink? Have we, in our bid to correct gender stereotyping, actually reinforced it? And what's wrong with having a Barbie or a Princess doll? It makes you more loving, more caring... a nurturer.
Instead of discouraging little girls from playing with toys that augment gender stereotyping, why not encourage boys to play with 'girl' toys too? A girl who plays with cars may not necessarily be a tomboy or will grow up to be a lesbian! Neither will every boy who likes fashion, grow up to be any less a man than those who play baseball or football. Chances are that he will grow up to be a loving, protective dad and a man who doesn't physically abuse his wife/girlfriend.
No, I never enjoyed outdoor sports as a kid and yes I loved my Barbies (much to my mom's dismay), but I turned out just fine! I have fought off a mugger (taking a knife in the face in the process), broken 6 out of my 206 bones in the line of duty and been as tough and ready to get my hands dirty as any of my male colleagues. I'm not 'afraid' of bugs, I go running in the woods behind my house everyday and can change car tyres on my own. But I haven't lost touch with my 'feminine side'. I'm very observant, creative, expressive and yes I love dressing up and applying make up...
In short, there is nothing wrong with being 'girly', coz it doesn't really matter if you are a girl or a boy. What really matters is that you are caring, compassionate, well read, independent and most importantly... a good human being.

Safedi ki Chamkaar

While Julia Roberts is busy winning well deserved accolades for her evil queen act in Mirror Mirror, I'm left wondering when (in the name of the Lord!) will we, Bharatiya Naaris, stop setting such a huge store by "Who is the fairest of them all?"

A recent advertisement, offering women a fairness creme for their privates, made me almost throw up in revulsion! It appeared to say that pati dev will not love you unless you are white... down under too! Then of course there are those 'sunscreen' ads that promise to 'correct' dark spots and tanning. Er... since when does Hindustani chamdi get dark spots??? Unless you are Kareena's twin, you will not break out into freckles or 'suffer' any other 'harmful effect' of Sun exposure as long as you keep your system well hydrated! And what does tanning do exactly... make you a little browner? We have more melanin in our skin than the vilaayatees. Melanin is a pigment, the quantity of which determines the shade of your skin. Fair skinned people have less melanin, darker skinned people have more. It's not some evil curse... it's just a freakin' pigment! That's why we are brown... and brown isn't ugly!!!

In my seven years as a journalist covering crime and politics, I've spent weeks on stake-outs... Boom mic in hand, my video-journalist and I would stand outside police stations, courthouses, jails, hospitals, government offices, political party offices etc. for hours together... waiting for the crook/news-maker of the day (or his lawyer/spokesperson) to step out and give us the all important sound-bite that would be played in a loop across various television news networks. As a result, my skin has come to resemble an Apcolyte shade card (mera wala Brown!). 


My ex was a 'Safedi ki Chamkaar' (jo andhere mein bhi saaf nazar aaye!!!) and once asked me if I could lend him some sunscreen as it was way too sunny to step out without 'adequate protection'. I looked at him lovingly, slowly undressed myself till there wasn't a thread on me and asked, "Baby... What part of me looks like I'm familiar with the concept of Sunscreen?!" Before you ask... yes we spent the remainder of the day indoors ;-) And yes, my privates are as brown as the rest of me!

When I'm gone...

"What will happen to him when I'm gone?"
Sounds like the familiar melancholy refrain of every Hindustani Maa about her son. Our Mother Indias don't trust their sons to look after themselves. Infact this is perhaps the root cause of most Saas-Bahu khit-pits.
"That is not his favourite Sunday T-shirt!"
"That's not how he likes his poha!"
"Did you add two spoonfuls of sugar to his coffee?!"
Mothers-in-law seldom trust their daughters-in-law to be able to look after their sons after the Saas breathes her antim saans!
But mothers of straight sons can at least leave their pyaara puttars in the (however seemingly inadequate) care of their bahus. What happens if your son is gay? 
This fear was written large over the faces of many mothers at a Gay Bombay meet I recently attended. The law still prohibits same sex marriages, thus leaving many homosexual couples with only two options. Either defy society and move in together or live, grow old and die alone. 
Adoption laws also don't help. A man can't adopt a baby girl and a gay man cannot adopt a baby boy. While the intention of our law makers is only to protect children from abuse, it leaves most gay couples childless, unless they opt for surrogacy. The law of the land, unwittingly or by design, punishes gay men by making it almost impossible for them to have a happy family life.
It takes me back to that scene in Mrs. Doubtfire where Robin Williams tells children about different kinds of families... "Some have a mommy and a daddy. Some have just a mommy or just a daddy. Some only have grand parents..." It would be prudent to extend the scope and include families with two mommies or two daddies.
Gender doesn't define families or hold them together... Love does.

Jerk!

This Friday is going to be very interesting for movie watchers. While the affable Ayushman Khurana will play Vicky, a young man who gets paid to jerk off... newest Bong bombshell to come out of the Bhatt arsenal, Palomi Dam, will lay bare the deep dark recesses of the mind of a woman seeking redemption (always an interesting area to explore). Wonder why the Bhadralok in Poshcim Bongo want to paint her bare back blue in the film's posters... Do they have some secret Smurf kink?

I know what will be my 'paisa vasool' moment... a shirtless John Abraham getting wet and wild in a song that I'm sure will make no contribution to the storyline of the film he is producing. But as the said film's tag-line goes... Every Drop Counts ;-)

Takes me back to lines immortalised by his ex-flame Bipasha (the original Bong Bombshell of the Bhatt camp) in Jism... "Barson se is banjar zameen par barsaat ki ek boond tak nahi giri... Aur ab yahaan toofan aayega..." (I wanna kiss the horny little devil who wrote that!)

Vicky Donor also took me back to the 'reckless abandonment' argument from Legally Blonde. Or the priceless "Tujhe Holi khelne ka bada shauk hai, par suna hai ki teri pichkaari mein dum nahi!" from The Dirty Picture. Man... I love this new breed of writers!