Makadachya Haati Champagne October 25, 2008

This two-act play written by Dr. Vivek Bele is a humorous comment made on the manipulative overtures of the political mind.
Synopis: The characters in the play are three roommates, of which one imagines he has found his love. The friends address each other by names they have invented on the basis of their individual personalities. So, here we have the uncouth and aggressive ‘Chaku (Knife)’, who brings home the woman he would like to marry to meet his friends ‘Pustak (Book)’ who like his name goes by the book and ‘Makad’ a T.V channel journalist who could move heaven and earth to find news.
The lady herself is unabashed about changing her mind when it suits her, and moving on with life. With no answerability to an erasable past she aptly renames herself ‘Pencil’. The story becomes a chain of witty battles between the four characters as Pustak and Chaku both woo Pencil while Makad eggs on both individually. The duel goes on parallel to the Elections news that is being shown on TV.
The two men vie for the lady’s favors just as the opposing candidates vie for public support. The media and Makad meanwhile enjoy the show as long as the bottle of champagne is not opened. Because champagne means celebration and celebration means everybody is happy which clearly does not agree with their psyche.
Then Pencil marries Pustak and things seem to come to a dead end. But Makad would not let that happen. He now convinces Chaku that he is not out of the race and that he can still have his love back. Strategies are built, manipulations galore and wit abounds. Every time there is a possibility of stability, Makad the media man becomes restless and succeeds in unsettling the situation once again. Who gets the lady, who gets the chair? Whom does the lady favor, whom does the public uphold?
In a thoroughly enjoyable laughter ridden two hours of moves and countermoves, Director Girish Joshi brings out the stark insensitivity and selfishness of the human mind in no uncertain terms at Shivaji Natya Mandir.