‘Murder Wale Kulkarni’ play: Tale of confusing identities

We all know the typical middle-class mindset, where everything is expected to be in its place. But what happens when something out of the ordinary happens? Set in a regular Marathi middle-class household, the comedy play Murder Wale Kulkarni — which has been staged almost 100 times in Maharashtra — entertained the Hyderabad Marathi audience with this concept at Ravindra Bharathi. Organised by Health League, the play had a smooth opening, featuring Madhavi Kulkarni, the television-addicted housewife, joyfully dancing while watching TV.

Written by Jayant Upadhyay and directed by Santosh Pawar, the play seamlessly blends humour and suspense. The narrative centres around Mr and Mrs Kulkarni, a middle-class couple whose son is settled in Dubai. Madhav Kulkarni, played by Vaibhav Mangle is a professor of Marathi, and Madhavi Kulkarni is a housewife with a hobby of watching TV serials, a pastime Madhav despises. An incident occurs in Madhav Kulkarni’s life, who leads a contented but principled life.

As an eyewitness, media personnel come to Madhav Kulkarni’s house. Madhav Kulkarni appears on TV and becomes a celebrity overnight, branded as the ‘murderer Kulkarni’. Through this TV news, Madhav Kulkarni realises that he has witnessed a murder committed by Sharaya — portrayed by Nimish Kulkarni, a goon who acted on the orders of his brother in Dubai. Madhav Kulkarni decides to break into Sharaya’s house to destroy the evidence against him. At the same time, Police Constable Manmode played by Vikas Chavan arrives at Madhav Kulkarni’s house to investigate the murder. Madhav Kulkarni, who had been enthusiastically describing how he witnessed the murder, is now in shock.

“We are portraying a typical middle-class household, with the Kulkarni surname reflecting a typical Maharashtrian identity. Although the play is set against a Marathi backdrop, it connects with a pan-Indian audience because the tendencies of the middle class — such as valuing family and education — are universally relatable. When something out of the ordinary suddenly happens in their lives, how do they respond? How do they face such unexpected changes? We have shown this in a very humorous way. Through entertainment, we illustrate how a middle-class person reacts to unforeseen events in their life,” said Bhargavi Chirmule, who played Madhavi Kulkarni’s character in the play.

Overwhelmed with joy at becoming a dual celebrity, Madhavi Kulkarni is unaware of the chaos unfolding around her. Sharaya complicates things further by threatening the Kulkarni couple, claiming that his brother in Dubai is watching over their son. Madhavi Kulkarni then beats Constable Manmode, claiming he is her son, and Sharaya seizes this opportunity to stay at the Kulkarni house.

Believing Sharaya to be the Kulkarni’s son settled in Dubai, Constable Manmode begins frequenting their house with the intention of marrying his sister off to Madhav Kulkarni. Kulkarni’s patience, already wearing thin from managing these troubles, finally snaps when Sharaya’s girlfriend, who is dancing at a bar, comes to the Kulkarni house seeking refuge from Constable Manmode, who is raiding the bar.

Feeling trapped in a maze of his own making, Madhav Kulkarni realises he cannot escape but makes one last attempt. In this final effort, he ends up committing another murder. He revives the dead man, and the audience, who had been laughing at Kulkarni’s predicament, is left in shock. The innocent yet chaotic ‘murderer’ Kulkarni receives a standing ovation.

(Written by Vennapusala Ramya)