Review: Saanp Seedhi (Theatre) - Aadyam Productions - Kamani Auditorium Delhi

As I exited the Kamani Theatre in Delhi after watching "Saanp Seedhi," I bumped into a friend. Here's how our conversation unfolded:

Friend: "Saanp Seedhi" dekh ke aa rahe ho? Aadyam Productions ka hai na? Kaisa laga?

Me: Yaar, honestly, pehle pehle toh laga, "Yeh kya hai?" You know I love Aadyam’s programming. So expectations are always that there will be some dhamaal - big cast, bade sets ya phir complex narratives. Kuch toh hat ke hota hai hamesha. Aur yeh... Felt a bit... thanda.

Friend: Thanda? Like, boring?

Me: Nahi, nahi, boring nahi. More like, simple. You know, seedha-saadha. Just two characters and a living room. Linear narrative. It started ordinarily but then, dheere dheere, it got interesting.

Friend: What’s it about? You mentioned two characters. Who are they? Aur batao.

Me: Ok. First is Anil Wadhwa, Bollywood obsessed, maker of B Grade crime films. Aur there is Mayank, younger, bit stylish, architect. Anil ko pata hai ki Mayank ka chakkar chal raha hai uski wife Kavita ke saath. Aur woh Mayank ko apne ghar bulata hai, "Let’s have a chat," bolke.

Friend: Apne raqib ko apne he ghar bulaata hai?

Me: Haan. Unusual toh hai. Love Triangles toh bahut sune hain par a husband drinking and chatting with his rival in his living room is a first for me.

Friend: Phir?

Me: Anil, glib talker hai. And chaalu bhi bai. He appears nonchalant. He's like, "Okay, fine, she's leaving me for you. What can I say. But bhai, take it from me. I know her for 20 years. She's high maintenance. You need money, which I know you don’t have. But main hoon na - so don’t worry”. He suggests Mayank steal the jewels kept in his safe. Khud se chori karne ka plan samjhata hai usko.

Friend: Wait. Apni biwi ka lover. Apne hi living room mein. Aur khud se chori karne ko kah raha hai? That's quite a novel plotline.

Me: Exactly. Mayank, pehle toh suspicious ho jata hai. But then, he gets sucked into it. They start rehearsing the robbery. Aur phir, kab role-play role play hai aur kab real real hai gets blurred. Audience gets drawn in.

Friend: So, it's not just about the affair anymore?

Me: Nahi, that was just the trigger. It soon becomes about ego, pride and battle of wits. They vie for dominance in the verbal mind games. Saanp Seedhi title is perfect. Kabhi ek character metaphorical seedhi pe chadhta hai toh lagta hai woh aage hai, aur phir kabhi saanp ne kat liya toh woh phir neeche.

Friend: Hmmm. Phir?

Me: Phir - Is sab chori ke role playing ke beech, a gun gets fired and one of them slumps backwards on the sofa. The audience is caught by surprise.

<Lights Out> <Curtain Falls for the interval>

Friend: I think I’ll like it. Check karta hoon if they have tickets the next show.

<Friend leaves to check for tickets>

Well, I think you guys too get the drift. Overall, the storytelling is quite tight, flows well, and is quite funny in bits. Kumud Mishra (as Anil Wadhwa) is very good. Sumeet Vyas (as Mayank) seems tentative in comparison, especially in the first half. The direction by Shubrajyoti Barat is fine without being exceptional. The set design is more photogenic but clunky at some places.

By the way, the play itself is a Hindi adaptation of a Tony Award-winning play called “Sleuth” by English playwright Anthony Shaffer.

It’s certainly worth seeing, if you go without expectations. But I’ve seen better ones from the Aadyam stable.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars.

The Art and Science of Prediction

 We face danger whenever information growth outpaces our understanding of how to process it

Data driven predictions can succeed - and they can fail. It is when we deny our role in the process that the odds of failure rise. Before we demand more from our data, we need to demand more from ourselves.

Prediction is important because it connects subjective and objective reality.

We must become more comfortable with probability and uncertainty

How can we apply our judgement to the data - without succumbing to our biases.

The signal is the truth. The noise is what distracts us from the truth

We focus on those signals that tell a story about the world as we would like it to be, not how it really is. We ignore the risks that are hardest to measure, even when they pose the greatest threats to our well-being. We make approximations and assumptions about the world that are much cruder than we realize. We abhor uncertainty, even when it is an irreducible part of the problem we are trying to solve.

Hedgehogs are type A personalities who believe in Big Ideas - in governing principles about the world that behave as they were physical laws. (Specialised, Stalwart, Stubborn, Order-Seeking, Confident, Ideological)

Foxes are scrappy creatures who believe in a plethora of little ideas and in taking a multitude of approaches toward a problem. (Multidisciplinary, Adaptable, Self-critical, Tolerant of Complexity, Cautious, empirical)

Foxlike approach to forecasting: - Think Probabilistically, Good predictions  can and should change as more information becomes available, Look for consensus, Beware Magic-bullet forecasts

The word objective is sometimes taken to be synonymous with quantitative but it isn't. Instead it means seeing beyond our personal biases and prejudices and toward the truth of a problem. 

   

Chandni Raatein (Review) - Theatre

Chandni Raatein (Adapted and Directed by Purva Naresh)

My Rating: 4 Stars

The generation in India that once read Russian writers like Fyodor Dostoevsky (or Chekhov, Gogol, Tolstoy, Gorky, and Pushkin, for that matter) has passed. The romance of Tsarist times is long forgotten, and the short story as a literary form is fading. In this landscape, adapting a Russian classic for the Indian stage is an unusual and ambitious choice.

It takes courage for a young director like Purva Naresh to bring White Nights, a short story by Dostoevsky, to life as a large-scale theatrical production—especially for an Indian audience. Yet, she has done so with remarkable finesse, earning a standing ovation. This speaks not only to her creativity and theatrical craft but also to her deep understanding of Indian audiences. What likely drew her to this project is the timeless nature of love—proof that matters of the heart transcend geography and culture.

The Original Storyline

On the luminous summer nights of St. Petersburg, a lonely dreamer meets Nastenka on a quiet bridge. As they share their hopes and sorrows beneath the city’s glowing sky, a deep bond forms. He longs for love, while she waits for someone from her past. Over four nights, their connection deepens with laughter, confessions, and unspoken emotions. But as dawn approaches, the bridge that brought them together may also be where their paths diverge.

From White Nights to Chandni Raatein

In Purva’s hands, however, Chandni Raatein is to White Nights what a Margarita is to Tequila. The essence remains—Dostoevsky’s blend of melancholy and hope —but it is blended with additional characters, personas, and garnished with music and dance. The result is a sprightly cocktail that leaves you refreshed yet slightly intoxicated with emotion.

Performance and Production

Most of the cast delivers above-average performances, but Mantra Mugdh (as Deewaana) and Kaustav Sinha stand out. The set design and production are commendable, with the 19th-century bridge serving as the central motif, beautifully capturing the twilight of the Russian summer. One particularly striking detail is the human statue painted in silver, standing in a corner of the stage—an almost living prop that adds depth to the mise-en-scène.

Lighting, singing, and music are all well-executed, but what truly sets this production apart is its direction. The fluidity of movement, effective space utilization, and seamless transitions between parallel settings keep the audience engaged throughout. A particularly whimsical touch is the introduction of human personas who enact the inner emotions of the characters. Not only does this add humor, but it also serves as a bridge between the audience and the unfolding drama.

Striking the Balance in Adaptation

Adapting a work like White Nights is no easy feat. It requires a delicate balance between staying true to the original and making it relatable to contemporary audiences. Purva attempts to achieve this by blending Indo-Russian cultural elements into the play. While this works in many places, at times, it feels slightly force-fitted. Given that this was not a full-fledged musical, the production could have done with one or two fewer songs without losing its impact.

Aadyam

A word must be said about Aadyam. The development of art and culture has always required patronage. In earlier times, kings and rulers supported great artists, writers, and poets. Today, Aadyam, an initiative of the Aditya Birla Group, is playing a similar role in Indian theatre. By funding high-quality productions and keeping ticket prices manageable, it allows directors to focus on their art rather than commercial constraints.

Take a bow, Purva. Well done, Aadyam. Without your combined efforts, an adaptation of White Nights would likely have been confined to an Experimental Theatre @NCPA, Mumbai, playing to a small group of intellectuals—instead of filling a 600+ packed house at Kamani.