Manav Kaul who juggles various hats like acting, writing, and directing feels lucky to have these opportunities come his way. Eventually realising that one complements the other. Manav finds it refreshing to direct a play, go back to acting, after completing his acting projects, head out to travel where he can ideate and possibly start new writing. After having a successful process in place, Manav Kaul is ready to present to the audience a modern take on relationships with his new play Tumhaare Baare Mein premiering on the 27th & 28th of May at the Experimental Theatre, NCPA.
Calling it a devised writing piece, Manav elaborates, “It’s a story of a couple, it’s not a deviced theatre piece, instead I would prefer calling it a devised writing piece. I was taking a workshop, where I threw some scenes around and eventually started writing around those improvisations. After which I started to direct the piece. You could call it absurd theatre or dark comedy. When we started to work on this play, I couldn’t believe I could tell a story like this. It’s very new-age, modern storytelling. The man wants to be a penguin and the lady wants to fly so she wants to be a bird. It is a very interesting piece and I am looking forward to sharing it with the audience. The play will lead people to contemplate. Because it talks about a lot of things which usually go unsaid in a relationship. It says everything from the man’s & the woman’s perspectives. It is entertaining and crisp, performed by fabulous artists.”
The play explores themes of relationships, voids, fulfilment, and fantasies. The characters are driven by their deepest desires. As they navigate the complexities of their relationships, they grapple with the voids that exist within them and the fantasies that they create to fill those gaps.
Manav has consistently written and directed new works in Hindi and feels there is a dearth of new writing shares, “Whenever I write a new play, I put it up on my blog so people can pick it up and perform. I feel grateful for the number of people who perform those in various cities. I often encourage writer who I know as well to write new stories which talk about contemporary stories and represents the world we are living in. Tumhare Baare Mein is one such story”
Through a blend of humour, heartbreak, and raw honesty, Tumhaare Baare Mein provides a powerful exploration of what it means to be human in a world that can often feel isolating and confusing.
