‘detective nau-do-gyarah’ is a spectacular roller-coaster ride

Knitting together the worlds of graphic novels, gangster films, the noir genre, black-and-white Hindi films, Alfred Hitchcock and Charlie Chaplin, Atul Kumar, actor-director and

founder-member of The Company Theatre, presents an entertaining play, _Detective Nau-Do-Gyarah._ The opening play of the fourth season of Aadyam, a theatre initiative of the Aditya Birla

Group, _Detective Nau-Do-Gyarah_ is a roller-coaster ride through the alleys of the port-city of Bombay in the 1940s and 50s. A simple, old-fashioned, detective story about a psychiatrist

caught in a murder-mystery, the play is peopled with spies, glamorous women, crooners, bumbling cops, dons et al. > â€œDetective Nau Do Gyarah” by Atul kumar at St Andrews. So > so 

so much fun . Evoking all the Hindi noir of the 40’s and > 50’s with such an amazing live jazz band. So much fun , after a > long time I was laughing till I cried.. > — Anurag 

Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) July 1, 2018 To escape the tedium of his life in the small hill-station of Khandala, psychiatrist Dr Shekhar Kumar makes a trip to Bombay to spend an evening at

the iconic Royal Opera House to watch one Mr Yaadgar regale audiences with fantastic memory games. But a sudden gunshot interrupts the show, and in the chaos that follows Dr Shekhar finds

himself, willy-nilly, rescuing a stylish damsel who turns out to be Russian. What follows is a tale of international espionage, KGB included. > But Atul Kumar’s narration of this simple 

story is far from > simple. He creates smoky dens and clubs, modest lodges, luxury-liners, trains, automobiles, and a host of other locales, using the same set of props in an amazing

manner; a live jazz band enhances the mood of each scene with background music; fade-outs, costumes that re-create the era of trench-coats and hats; stereotypical characters delightfully

spoofed; and above all, the choreographed movements of the actors make his narration a layered one that incorporates various methods of story-telling. > For instance, you see the 

influence of black-and-white Hindi films > in several scenes. The title itself is borrowed from Dev Anand’s > 1957 film, which also had a simple crime story. Then, the shadowy > 

dons in Kismet and Howrah Bridge clearly shaped the character of Rai > Bahadur Sinha in Kumar’s play; and one spots the similarity > between Kumar’s club singer and _Howrah Bridge_’s 

Edna > (Madhubala). A popular Geeta Dutt song, _Khayalon mein kisi ke,_ adds to the mood of a romantic scene between Dr Kumar and a Meena Kumari-sounding Rosie. At one point, the story of

the play is taken forward through an interesting graphic-novel format, projected on a large screen. And then, as if stepping out from the screen, the flesh and blood Dr Kumar resumes his

run from the sleuths chasing him. It is a seamless amalgamation of two mediums, very entertainingly executed. > Kumar’s light design too, is imaginatively conceived, combining > 

elements of the old and new. For the most part, the live band, at an > elevated level, is in semi-darkness, heightening the noir ambience, > whereas the hectic goings-on in the 

forefront are lit by two Fresnel > lights that are manually operated to follow the characters and their > actions on stage. When the multi-purpose props are moved around, the stage is

plunged into pitch darkness; to light up again, within seconds, to reveal another location. Everything happens at an exhilarating pace with the actors’ nimble-footedness accelerating the

speed. Whether it is Sukant Goel, as the hapless doctor on the run, or Anna Ador playing a cardboard cut-out version of a Russian spy, or Rachel D’Souza paying tribute to Hindi film heroines

like Meena Kumari, or Neil Bhoopalam and Gagan Dev Riar multi-performing as cops, henchmen and ticket checkers, the entire team of actors, that include many more, keep the momentum going

with their energy, verve and perfect timing. > The play gave me an opportunity to work with physically-trained > actors who could jump genres within a singular world and move > 

smoothly through farce to commedia to physical comedy. The backstage > and onstage merge, as a team of 12 performers jump in and out of the > action as they change costumes in front of

 the audience, light up > the scene manually and take on many characters. Atul Kumar, Director Where the play falters is in the screenplay and dialogues, to borrow two terms from cinema.

A little more humour in the dialogues and fewer repetitive sequences would prevent the play from flagging in parts. But these are minor flaws in a play that leaves you spellbound with the

sheer scale of its operation. Simply spectacular! _(_Detective Nau-Do-Gyarah_ will be next performed at Royal Opera House, Mumbai on 21 and 22 July, and Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi on 4 and

5 August 2018.)_ Published: 03 Jul 2018, 10:29 AM IST