Monday, July 30, 2007

Carry on Heaven

Sunday evening I went to see the play “Carry on Heaven” being played in Manik Sabhagriha, Bandra Kurla Complex. Written and directed by Bharat Dabholkar, the play is a musical comedy. Louis Banks has designed the music and the songs are comical take-off from popular numbers of Bollywood and Hollywood. I wouldn’t have gone to see it (ah don’t like replays of mythological stories), had not I heard about its popularity.
The two hour long play is a spoof that lampoons every aspect of life – from politics, cricket, films, languages, film stars, doctors, medical systems, mafia, music, demons and even Gods!
The King of Gods, Indra desires to see a 20th century man from earth but what he gets is much more than he has bargained for...in the form of an Indian minister (read Laloo Prasad Yadav) of considerable political clout.

What follows is a hilarious chain of events...with minister trying to woo the heavenly apsara Menaka, learning new ‘positions’ of Kamasutra; Yamraj, the God of death joining the new coalition party in heaven, the ‘hung parliament’ and so on.
The naughty witty dialogues are mainly in English with subtle touch of Hindi, Marathi & Gujarati. From wonderbra to
castration – it mentioned everything. Worth watching if one doesn’t mind a little of shh shh dialogues. And Bharat Dabholkar ? What shiny head he has ! I wonder what oil & shampoo he uses. ;)

The cast included Viju Khote, Kishore Pradhan, Atul Kale, Sameer Chougule, Mukesh Ahuja, Priyanka Khimani, Palash Dutt and Sarika Mishra.

This was my first visit to Manik Sabhagriha and in my opinion, the auditorium is much better than Prithvi theatre at Juhu; both in size and infrastructure.
On my way back while waiting for 11:06 PM train at Bandra station, one small incident happened that left me thinking. More on that later.

P.S.-The "Passing the Sentence" game is still on for the last sentence and I have asked something over there. Will you be kind enough to answer that ? Pulleeease..

Current song- Love Me Do – Beatles
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31 comments:

Anonymous said...

im taking back my early bird prize eh ? :). do u believe i've never been to a play. except frm those plays at school, i'vent seen a professional one.

seems like an interesting one :), but i wonder to how many people will it reach.

Amey said...

Reminds me of a indie movie I saw. It had Mr. Wagle from Wagle ki Duniya as a minister who dies and goes to heaven. There he calls his secretary and with the help of people from "narak" tries to take over Indra's chair.

Kind of corny plot, but a nice tp.

Ali S. said...

It reminds me of the comical play we did in our 1st year of college....it had the similar characters...
...menka........indra....lalu....i guess Mr. Dabholkar copied our Idea....just kidding....but yeah these parody sort of plays they are always a pleasure to watch... n... these shh shh dialog... they add taste to the recipe...they remind me of my college days [:D][:D][:D]

Aditi said...

hmm there is a similar movie i forget its name.. the concept can be funny if done right

Anonymous said...

Cuckoo, thanks for a nice review. Even I have been yearning to see one of Dabholkar's Hinglish plays. His plays based on established Old Marathi plays have become very popular. Your review inspired me to go for it now:-)

Raghu Ram Prasad said...

“Carry on Heaven” is one of the good movies i never saw...beautifully shown things in a nice a way...

HojO said...

sounds interesting!

though nowadays we got extra dose of comedy movies that make this subtle act lil' boaring;but still some worth watching..

amit said...

sounds interesting... from ur reviews, it seems with the comedies getting cliche today, this play brings an air of freshness..nice review

Peter said...

Regarding the P.S. and "Passing the Sentence", I would defintiely hope that YOU will add the last sentence and somehow bring it to a "happy end". I don't know how, but good luck!

Sam said...

hmmm.... bharat dabhlkar and teh plot.. they both together sound to be a very interesting combi... wonder wen we'll have dat in pune!!
anywyz... it's really great dat u went for such an entertaining play!!

as for teh game.. can i polish it off... i knw, it wud be my secnd sentence, but den.. adn yeah.. if nothing comes up.. i think u shud polish it off!!

Anonymous said...

Good review - had heard a lot about Prithvi being real good theatre so it came as a surprise to know that it has not passed muster ....in your opinion.

Haven't checked on plays for a long time - however off beat movies are big hit in capital...!
Tk care~

bEAST said...

eeew :(, never been to a play but done many of them in school :)
somehow plays have always been to boring for me but i guess the one you mention in the post would be sumthing worth a while!

Cuckoo said...

Maverick,
Oh yeah, you took it back. I’ll have to try for it again. :(
Now, a secret… shhhh.. Do you believe if I say it was first ever professional play that I saw ? Just like you, I have seen all the plays during my school/college. Plays were never my cup of tea. But I really liked this one.

Fleiger,
Welcome. It was not a tp. Believe me, it was an interesting one. First ever professional play that I saw. :)

Cuckoo said...

Ashish,
Yeah, that’s what I am going to call you from now on. Itne naam mat badaliye janab ki apna asli naam hee bhool jayen.
Oh, I’ll convey your allegations to Mr Baldy.. I mean Mr Dabholkar. :)

Aditi,
Even I am forgetting the name. Dabholkar’s debut movie it was.
Yeah, if done right. :)

Cuckoo said...

Abhijit,
Glad to know that my post could inspire you. This play is being shown off & on for quite some time. I think for more than a year. See, if you can. :)

Raghu Ram Prasad,
Welcome here on my blog. Can I call you RRP ? I have seen you on some blogs, don’t remember where and now happy to see you here. :)

“Carry on Heaven” is one of the good movies i never saw... Ha Ha..

Thanks for your visit. Keep coming.

Cuckoo said...

Sag_Nik,
Haan, se to bhalo aache.
It was first ever professional play that I saw.. that too on recommendation. So felt like writing about it. Otherwise plays were never my cup of tea. :)

Amit,
Welcome abroad !!
Yes, it was different otherwise plays were never my cup of tea. :)

Thanks for your visit. Keep coming.

Cuckoo said...

Peter,
The game is over now. I am glad I didn’t have to pitch in. Thanks. Your wishes really came handy. ;)
Now I’ll not ask to make a horror story. :(

Sam,
The play is being shown off & on for quite around a year now. Wish it goes to Pune or you come to Mumbai over the weekend. ;)

The game is over now. :)

Cuckoo said...

BTR,
Yeah, till the time you don’t see another one, you always think that the one seen by you is the best one. Plays were never my cup of tea. But I really liked this one.

Beast,
Will you believe if I say it was first ever professional play that I saw ? Just like you, I have seen all the plays during my school/college days. Plays were never my cup of tea. But this one was recommended to me and I really liked it. So, felt like writing about it. :)

Amey said...

Oh, I meant it in a good way. Like "Andaz Apna Apna" is tp...

And more I think about it, the more I think the play is based on the movie I mentioned. The movie was also Bharat Dabholkar production, and many actors are also common.

HojO said...

U said it lady! so many times 2 convince us...
'play isn't my cup-of-tea'

well,bhalo....then can i ask ...what's ur 'cup-of-tea' and if allow...err..'cup-of-coffe'??

Think Cuckoo willn't gimme a tough look(read reply)4 it!!

But then who cares!!..i'm ready with it :lol:lol

ToOothlEss WOndeR! said...

i'm not too much of a thatre knowledgable poerson, and i prefer beer to wine.

so it was funny that i was meeting afemale friend after a long time, and we went to "let's have sex".
it wasnt too bad though.

(DISCLAIMER:No pun intended.)

Anonymous said...

really :) n i thought i was alone on this :)

Ar Ar Ar Arrrrr said...

This play sounds fun to me :)

Bharat Dabholkar...naam soona huan lagta hai..
Been a long time...no plays for me :(

Lucky you :P

Keshi said...

LOL!

Keshi.

The Black King said...

Oh... that sounds really interesting! Wonder, though, if Mr. Yadav will really land into heaven! :P

rauf said...

Well Well Well Cuckooji, now an Indian Carry on !! Sounds like a wonderful and yummy khichdi with a spicy chatni. i would love to see it when it comes to Chennai.

Cuckooji, We have real life clowns playing 'carry on Parliament' The chappal pooja given to our cricket heros. Sanjay Dutt Tamasha, Ha ! just open the news paper.

Shrink Wrapped Scream said...

I love the theatre, it is one of the few things I do miss from having moved from London, as I so took the West End for granted when I was there. It sounds as though you've had a super night out there.

(ps. I am sooo glad you mentioned that interview - I did compile it, and was of the belief I'd e-mailed it to you. Forgive me for my mistake, as I've deleted the original one, I'll make a fresh start. All this while, I thought you didn't like the questions!!)

Unknown said...

Sounds like my kind of play :)

Ali S. said...

@cuckoo

I guess you must be knowing this.....but still just a reminder

Naam se kya hota hai
Insaan ki seeraat aachi honi chaahiye
Pavardeegaar ne bande ki seeraat fursat main banaayi hai...[:D]...."me very gud at dialogs......abhi you'll listen many.. :P "

From my childhood only i m facinated by names....esp muslim names.....i mean i like changing names....when i was young..i used to change my name everyday...abhi it has become every month...

you c
"BAD HABITS DIE HARD"..

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Now since you have discovered my certified name.....you can call me by that name.....though i prefer any one of the following...

Bhaktaawar Seth
Dada Veer
Shauqat
Iqbal
Sulimaan Bhaai
Chemical Ali
Nawaab
.....long list......again
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

tc

Kalyan Panja said...

You must have had a gala time there...Really looks a nice humorous story!

The 'Mad' Orchid said...

Lololol.....im still laughin away..gawd..can imagine u.must hve fallen off ur seat..Lalu eyeing Maneka..god god..Indra...hehe haha..gud u had quite a comic retreat...haha :D