''Hu Chandrakant Bakshi'' (English: I, Chandrakant Bakshi) is a 2013 biographical

one-man play A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

about

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

writer

Chandrakant Bakshi Chandrakant Keshavlal Bakshi ( gu, ચંદ્રકાંત કેશવલાલ બક્ષી) was a Gujarati language, Gujarati author from Gujarat, India and a former Sheriff of Mumbai. He was known for his bold and new concepts in writi ...

, starring

Pratik Gandhi Pratik Gandhi is an Indian actor. He worked in Gujarati theatre before entering Gujarati cinema. He received wide acclaim for portraying Harshad Mehta in Sony LIV series ''Scam 1992''. He acted in several Hindi films thereafter. Early life Ga ...

. The play is written by Shishir Ramavat and directed by

Manoj Shah Manoj Sakarchand Shah (born 5 February 1955) is an Indian theatre director, actor and producer known for his works in the Gujarati theatre. He has directed over 90 plays, such as one-man plays and biographical plays, in different genres . He is ...

. It was premiered on 15 June 2013 at

Prithvi Theatre Prithvi Theatre is one of Mumbai's best known theatres. It was built by Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jennifer Kapoor in memory of Prithviraj Kapoor, Shashi's father, who had dreamt of having a "home" for his repertory theatre company, Prithvi Th ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Background

''Hu Chandrakant Bakshi'', written by Shishir Ramavat and directed by Manoj Shah, focus on Bakshi's life and his literary career. It was premiered on 15 June 2013 at

. The play was produced under Manoj Shah's theatre company Ideas Unlimited. The director has used a

ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such a ...

throughout the play which play an instrumental role in the development of play's theme. The ladder has been used to show Bakshi's obsession to be on the top.

Reception

Utpal Bhayani Utpal Harivallabh Bhayani (10 October 1953 – 16 October 2019) was a Gujarati language story writer, playwright, critic and translator from Gujarat, India. Life Utapal Bhayani was born on 10 October 1953 in Calicut (now Kozhikode) to Harivall ...

's assessment, ''Hu Chandrakant Bakshi'', based on the life of celebrated Gujarati writer, is a play that tries to dramatize Bakshi's life by using books and articles written by Bakshi himself. Manoj Shah's directorial sense is visible in the usage of a ladder on stage that the actor often uses to metaphorically convey Bakshi's higher and inflated sense of self. The Performance of Bakshi, carried out by Pratik Gandhi, shows his ability as an actor which he has proved in earlier plays. Here, he gets more room to play. On the downside, the play is merely a repetition of what Bakshi has already written and doesn't provide any novel perspective but rather remains a one-sided story. It lacks any dramatic element. The details of ''Kutti'', the controversial story that led Bakshi to court, are obviously elaborated upon but some more details about his other works would have provided a more wholesome picture. Repeated mention of the director, Manoj Shah, in the monologue as the figure that Bakshi would have mocked and attacked had he been alive, only acts as a distraction and should have been reduced to a great extent. Keyur Seta of My Theatre Cafe compared the play with Shah's previous play '' Karl Marx in Kalbadevi'', and called Gandhi's performance a "stellar performance", However, he observed that at some points "the protagonist is seen going too far from the main topic of his narration".

References

{{reflist 2013 plays Biographical plays about writers Gujarati-language plays Plays for one performer Cultural depictions of Indian men Cultural depictions of writers