A theatre festival for a cause in memory of Shiv Subrahmanyam
Money collected from ticket sales will be donated for research into ependymoma brain tumours in children
Mumbai A four-day festival in memory of playwright and theatre director Shiv Subrahmanyam opened at Prithvi Theatre in Juhu on Tuesday. Called ‘For You, Shiv’, it is curated by his wife Divya Jagdale, who is an actor and screenwriter.
Subrahmanyam, who passed away in April this year at the age of 52, began his journey in theatre with Veenapani Chawla, Naseeruddin Shah and Shanta Gandhi. He went on to write and direct plays for his own company Zero Theatre. He also wrote the screenplay for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Parinda and 1942: A Love Story, and for Sudhir Mishra’s Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, Chameli and Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi.
A launch of the book Irani Cafe and Other Plays was the first event at the festival. Published by Dhauli Books, it is a collection of three full-length plays written by Subrahmanyam – Irani Cafe, Snapshots From An Album, and Clogged Arteries. The collection has a foreword by Naseeruddin Shah and an afterword by Kenneth Desai. Both these theatre veterans were in attendance at the launch.
Jagdale said, “A lot of Shiv’s work as a screenwriter is in the public domain but, outside our theatre circles, not many people are aware of his contributions to theatre. Some of his best writing is found in his plays.” Actor Vivaan Shah, who edited the collection, along with actor Jaimini Pathak, read excerpts from the pensive and humorous foreword.
Several other friends, colleagues and admirers of Subrahmanyam from the theatre world and the film industry gathered at Prithvi Theatre to celebrate his work. Among them were Saeed Mirza, Ratna Pathak Shah, Kenneth Desai, Jackie Shroff, Dolly Thakore, Saadiya Siddiqui, Kunal Kapoor and Suhaas Ahuja.
Jagdale added, “My theatre journey with Shiv began during our courtship itself. Once we started dating, he started writing about relationships a lot. That was a bit of a departure from the gangster stories that he was writing at the time.”
The book release was followed by shows of two plays written by Subrahmanyam – Coffee in the Canteen and Snapshots of An Album. The former revolved around the dreams, adventures and problems of four college students. The latter traced the evolution of a relationship over 45 years, looking at milestones like courtship, marriage, parenthood, divorce, and turning 60.
Over the next three days, the festival will feature performances of other plays written by Subrahmanyam – Clogged Arteries, The Way I See It, and Irani Cafe.
On December 22, Sriram Raghavan’s diploma film The Eight Column Affair, which features Subrahmanyam as an actor, will be screened at the festival. The screening will be followed by a discussion hosted by Makarand Deshpande.
The screening of another film called Cha Cha Cha, directed by Subrahmanyam and based on his play Irani Cafe, is scheduled for December 23. Audiences will also get to participate in a post-screening discussion with cast members Vinay Pathak and Leena Yadav.
Jagdale mentioned that the money collected from ticket sales will be donated for research into ependymoma brain tumours in children. She added, “It will be forwarded to Tata Memorial Hospital with the hope of finding answers through science… I will continue to find ways to make children laugh and help them get back on track and live with dignity.”