For the past three years, Dhruv Arcot has had one story constantly running through his head. Born out of many situations and experiences, he just didn’t know how to put it all together. But after brainstorming with a dear friend, Aditya KH, Dhruv was finally able to put different variations together and write a 55 minutes play, called Nambikkai Dhan Vazhkai.
“What the play follows came from this idea that we don’t confront our own realities or we don’t ask the important questions unless a situation arises that demands us to question. This play dwells into a little bit of existentialism where we question ‘why am I doing what I am doing’, and find our deeper meaning,” says Dhruv, writer and director of the play.
The plot revolves around a watchman who has been guarding “an abandoned and creepy old factory” that no one has really been into, and no one knows what happens there.” Why is there a night guard when the factory is abandoned, you may ask. Dhruv explains, “That’s the kind of question we answer. When a situation comes up, the watchman is compelled to ask ‘why am I guarding this place’. Now, this guard is someone who has never been inside the factory; his gets his salary, he has been told there are cameras that are watching him, but he does not really know what he is guarding. He has never gone beyond his world to go inside and find out what’s happening.”
Until, one night, when he meets a journalist, who wants to investigate and come out with an expose; and a college kid who is “at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Aditya, who plays this character, and who is also producing the play, says, “We used to meet up at night in Vellore. A lot of these conversations we had were very interesting but not play-worthy. But weaving a lot of ideas together, Dhruv has made it happen!”
The factory is named Vesamani factory, based on a character from a famous Tamil movie called Friends. Aditya says, “When we were in college, we did a show called Vesamani Film Factory and borrowing from that we called this factory Vesamani.” He adds, “Our idea was a comedic play, but Nambikkai Dhan Vazhkai, which translates to ‘faith is the way of life’, has a morbid tone to it too. It starts with ‘work is worship’ but ends with ‘I have no idea why I do this’. However, the play with an open ending harps on the importance of having and keeping the faith.
Talking about the open ending, Dhruv says, “I am a huge fan of open-eneded play. I want the audience to be able to reflect upon the play, and decide for themselves how they would have liked the play to end.”
Tickets at Rs 299.
November 25, 4 pm.
At Medai – The Stage, Alwarpet.
Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com
X: @rupsjain