Hyderabad: “Love on the Brink”, satirical English comic play about love and the pursuit of happiness was staged as part of the Hydourite festival 
celebration the spirit of Hyderabad here at Taramati Baradari, Hyderabad late evening yesterday. The play had Joy Sengupta enacting the role of Sudipto Bandhopadhya (Bandy), Kumud Mishra as Pankaj Chopra (Chops) and Ira Dubey as Chops’ wife Amu.
Organised by Hydourite, an initiative celebrating the spirit of Hyderabad with ‘100 days of celebrations’ the play was produced and directed by Lillete Dubey and adapted by Sandhya Divecha. The play was based on the Tony Award Winning smash Broadway hit ‘Luv’ by Murray Schisgal. Originally written in the 60′s, the play was a huge success on Broadway when it opened. “Love on the Brink” was adapted to a thoroughly Indian situation.
The play of 100 minutes duration treated the audience to a bellyful of laughs with its satirical, funny, insightful look at love, marriage and the pursuit of happiness. The play starts with Sudipto Bandhopadhya (Bandy) obsessed with how to live one’s life and having failed to find answers anywhere sees no future except to jump off into the sea and is about to do so, when Pankaj Chopra (Chops) comes along recognizes him as his childhood friend and stops him. What follows is a comical conversation between the two about whose childhood was worse. Evoking laughs from the audience are Bandy’s ailments which while describing to Chops, he demonstrates them one by one. Snapping in and out different states, Bandy sometimes is not able to move and just freezes, sometimes he is not able to see, losing hearing sometimes and losing his voice other times. Both friends confess to each other of their suffering and frustrations. The crux of the play comes when Chops says that Love is the answer to Bandy’s problems, that he not yet lived life and was thinking of dying. And, Chops confesses his frustration that he is in love with Urvashi but his wife won’t give him a divorce. And suddenly Chops thinks of an evil plan and implores at his friend Bandy to meet his wife and entice her so that she wants a divorce and he gets what he wants. Thus enters Chops’ wife Amu, a beautiful and highly overeducated woman, and a triangle ensues as they jostle problems and struggle to understand life, love, success and happiness. The play stirs up peals of laughter with its exaggerations of love with the characters falling in and out of love within short times of interval.
‘Love on the Brink’ was first staged in April 2010, has performed over 40 shows in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Chennai, Dubai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kasauli and also performed 6 shows at Watermans Theatre, London in 2011. It has also been invited to perform at various Festivals.
Hydourite means ‘Our Hyderabad, Our Favourite’. Hydourite which is in its second year celebrates the spirit of Hyderabad and will have ‘100 days of celebrations’ with various kinds of events woven around the spirit of Hyderabad. Hydourite has been conceived to get together all the Hyderabad loving people on to a single platform, to feel the rich diversity of this great city through various events and thereby feel proud of being a Hyderabadi. Hydourite, as part of its 100 Days of Celebrations, will create and present various events woven around the spirit of Hyderabad. A spirit which reverberates – ‘Me and My Hyderabad’.
Source : Lokesh Shastri