‘Ghanta’s’ protagonists, Aaditya and Feroza, are your typical slightly mismatched couple: He’s an idealistic musician, she’s a sensible lawyer; he thinks she’s too careerist, but she thinks he’s just insecure because she earns more than him. Feroza achieves economic class mobility hustling over the years whereas Aditya comes from a privileged background. He is politically operative, conclusively an on-ground activist. She on the other hand is radically focused on her law practice and is dealing with her political uncertainty. Their differences are brought into focus when the government brings in a new law that forbids all citizens from speaking more than 140 words per day.

How could any couple survive in such conditions? The so-called “Antah: Shanti / Quietude / Muskaatdaabi Kaayda” threatens the basis of their closeness, forcing them to water down their conversation to a meagre daily quota. But whereas Aaditya is affronted and joins a protest movement to try to get the act repealed, Feroza, whose instincts are conservative, is initially complacent about its ramifications. This alters the texture of the dialogue as the couple looks to economise their word count. Soul-searching discussions that had been long and involved must be resumed in near-monosyllabic tones. This constraint forces a stripping-down of language at the very point when emotion is most heightened, and the words should be flowing most freely. Their relationship may or may not be unravelling. This newly formed equation becomes prone to ups and downs dictated by the disintegrating personal and political contests. The compulsion of being woke refrains Aditya from knowing that his sense of achievement is delusional. Feroza is too consumed and tired to let herself be taxed by the political discourses of the contemporary urban spheres around her.

Recent events in the country make many of its ideas feel not just interesting in the abstract, but alarmingly urgent. The play’s strength is in its playful riffs on language, as Aaditya and Feroza adapt to the new regime of state-enforced quietude.

Meet the Team :

Original English Play: Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons

Artwork & Calligraphy: Chandramohan Kulkarni

Assistant Directors: Suyog Deshpande, Mohish Bhamare, Hrishikesh Pujari

Production Management: Swapnil Ware, Aditya Santosh

Backstage In-Charge: Himanshu Borkar

Property Construction: Ameya Bhalerao

Publicity Design: Tushar Tajane

Stage Hands : Srujan Neela Harihar, Mangesh Ingole, Swarali Pendse

Light Assistance: Yash Potnis

Production Assistance : Om Jagtap, Sharvari Haldavanekar

Stills : Kunal Sharma, Vishal Magar

Special Thanks :

Anita Kushwaha, Apurva Kulkarni, Ashish Deshpande, Atul Kumar, Chirag Gujarati, Jeevak More, Pradeep Vaiddya, Rajiv Gurung, Shukra Rai Gurung, Swarali Pawar, Kuldeep Singh Shekhawat, Krutarth Kale, Rajesh Bhavsar, Shishir Kulkarni, Gokul KR, TCT Workspace (The Company Theatre), The Base Pune, Infinite Variable, The Box Pune, Dawn Studio Pune

Manch Theatre Festival

Bhasha Centre has spent the last four years building a space for theatre makers—creating opportunities, supporting new work, and strengthening the theatre community.

Best known for The Drama Library, an online home for unpublished Indian plays, and for Manch, their co-producing initiative, Bhasha Centre also runs training programs, commissions new work, and brings theatre makers together in meaningful ways.

Now, after three successful editions of Manch, they are launching something bigger—the very first Manch Theatre Festival. This is a festival that puts the focus on the people who make theatre happen—producers, writers, directors, and performers—celebrating the process as much as the performance.

Taking place in April in Pune and Mumbai, two cities recognized for their love for theatre, the festival will be filled with performances, workshops, lectures, play readings, and conversations. It’s a space to meet, learn, collaborate, and grow—but most of all, to celebrate theatre and the people who keep it alive.

This festival is built by and for the theatre community. 

Come be a part of it.