just watching Shabana Azmi walk on the stage is an intellectually stimulating experience...it gives the brain an experience as indescribable as an erotic frenzy....broken images a play beautifully written by Girish Karnad. A post modernist play. Definitely a first on the Indian Theatre scene. Had seen this play, actually hindi version of it, last year at India Habitat Centre. Sushma Seth played Manjula and another actor played Malini though the meaning was lost because of the use of an actor in place of the virtual screen image (which kind of was the whole point of charm in the play). the actors were not well rehearsed, Sushma Seth was fumbling with her lines, she forgot her spot at least twice. On the whole it was a disaster if you ask me, but still I loved the script and the concept.

Today as I saw the play in its glory, with someone as great as Shabana Azmi enacting the whole thing, well it was an experience of its own kind.

Yesterday while talking about some Haryanavi Cultural Evening I saw an invite to a play Broken Images enacted by Shabana Azmi, lying on the table and I decided I have to see this play even if I have to go alone. I knew it being Rohtak the audience would be bad and unruly, politicians would be treated like gods and their feet licked by everyone from the anchors to journalists to almost everyone in sight.

But I was pleasantly surprised to see a crowd so mature and so interested in something that was not loud beats or filmi aur haryanavi. There was a pindrop silence and the crowd appreciated the concept, though I must say it was quite considerate of Ms. Azmi to translate her dialogues to hindi that too impromptu....and well she connected with the audience as bizarre as this... I guess that makes her what she is....

I just wanna say...I had a lovely evening and my admiration for Shabana Azmi was reinforced today after seeing her in flesh.