Losing a loved one is like losing a part of your body and though with time the absence becomes the new normal, the void still stares with the same intensity. Photo-Copy directed and written by Niketan Sharma, unravels this journey of loss and grief through a four-member family — three siblings and their mother who have lost an important member, a father and a husband.
An alumni of Drama School Mumbai, Sharma is also an actor, writer and theatre director who has been part of many popular stage productions, and with this new-age production, he not only brings in the concept of loss but also spotlights the process of manoeuvring the feelings to celebrate the person and his spirit. This new idea of shifting from the usual mourning ceremony to celebrating the ideas, philosophies and moments with the deceased, flows into the script once the eldest sibling Satyaprakash makes an entry and makes the script light and full of hope. This celebratory idea reminded us of a veteran actor who had shared that instead of the usual shradh ceremony he had organised an event with modern music to remember his deceased father and to make his mother feel better.
Coming back to the play that was staged at Kolkata Centre for Creativity as part of the upcoming Serendipity Arts Festival’s #BeyondSerendipity initiative, the eldest son is hit by questions about his own identity, questions of being comfortable with the fading memories of his father and how he can’t recognise himself with his people anymore. And it is this disconnect that makes him plan and then convince the other members of his family to shun the log kya kahengey rhetoric and remember their father on his 15th death anniversary with fondness rather than the usual puja and feeding hundred ungrateful relatives.
The play stars Rasika Agashe, a prominent face who was last seen in Scoop, playing the mother of the three children. The two other young actors bring in their freshness and lend a joyful tone to the production with their natural brother-sister banter and bonhomie.
The premiere of Photo-Copy was the second leg of #BeyondSerendipity and it was succeeded by Mir Mukhtiyar Ali’s performance in Pondicherry.