Kanupriya Theatre Company Stages Hindi Play “On The Astral Plane”

Dilip Guha New Delhi: Kanupriya Theatre Company, a well-known theatre group of Delhi NCR recently staged Hindi Play “On The Astral Plane” at the Akshara Theatre auditorium in New Delhi.

A one-hour play, was conceived, created, and written by Ms. Kanupriya in 2015 and has been performed several times in Delhi-NCR. It is now being directed by Guncha Kanupriya under the banner of Kanupriya Theatre Company, a Delhi-based theatre Society led by Aakshay Yaduvanshi and Guncha Kanupriya.

Author, Kanupriya, a well-known name in the media industry started her journey as an actor and acted in over 80 serials and 50 telefilms. With her thirty years of experience, she started her own production house and a theatre group in 2014. After her untimely demise in 2021, her work is being carried forward by her daughter Guncha Kanupriya, and Student Aakshay Yaduvanshi in the form of Kanupriya Theatre Company. Their current production the play ‘On the Astral Plane’ is a satire come to prominence in spiritual lifestyle, which is becoming a fad in society.

Director, Guncha under the tutelage of her mother Ms. Kanupriya, began working as an actor at a very young age and then attained her Diploma in Acting and direction. She said that her mother spent over a decade exploring various forms of spirituality and this play was a culmination of that. All characters in the play are based on real-life people that, she has interacted with. Thereby, she attempted to include the individualistic nuances of each modality and presented an unbiased portrayal.

Talking about the play she said” The play is all about understanding the impact of spiritual modalities in a normal upper-class household setup. This play will make one laugh in the seats as he contemplates the truth within their façade”.

“In today’s fast-paced world, these alternative spiritualities and healings often act as a source of relief and discipline for the people who follow them, however, the traditional mindset often ridicules them. This play is a light-hearted comedic take on these modalities that attempts to show their pros and cons and how we must accept everyone’s beliefs” explains Aakshay Yaduvanshi, Co-Founder of Kanupriya Theatre Company.

It is the story of a successful businessman Raghuvender Rathod, a self-made man, and his wife, Romilla Rathod, who has voyaged from homemaker to a kitty party socialite and now an amateur Angel Tarot reader. The dysfunctional Rathod family is of highly ‘enlightened’ members with a Tarot Reader, a Chakra Healer, an Osho Swami, an Astrologer and a Hari Bhakt.

The only non-spiritual, earning member of this family is Raghuvendra Rathod; the patriarch of this clan and a multi-millionaire businessman. Raghuvender is appalled by the involvement of each of his family members in some of the other New Age Spiritual modalities; his son (Rahul )and daughter-in-law (Ruchi) who are Osho Swami and Chakra Healer; his mother (Rani Devi) who is a Sai devotee and even his maternal uncle (Ramendra) who is an astrologer. He is amazed as he finds their household servant; Ramlal also involved in Ramdev’s yoga. Problems start when Romilla’s first client of the tarot reading asks a question that her Indian mindset does not permit.

Tired of his family’s crazy habits, weird philosophies and constant criticism for his ‘materialistic’ lifestyle; he makes an announcement and says “I decided to sell my company to an Australian firm as you are shareholders so am informing you all”. This creates an upheaval in the family.

The actors of the play “On The Astral Plane” are successful in exploring unique spiritual satire that various spiritual modalities and the comedic confusion that they end up creating in the lives of the Rathod Family. In terms of performance, the role of Romilla played by Shubhangi Anand impressed by her acting brilliance and voice trough. Shaurya Kesarwani easy the role of Raghu nicely.

The other performers, namely Ramlal(Servent):Akchay Kaushal Arya, Ruchi(daughter in law)- Isha Singh, Rahul(son) – Arin Sharma, Rani – Anita Vohra, Ramanender(Uncle) – Hritish Kansal, Raveena Sarkar – Sumedha Dev, Ranveer Shroy – Ishmeet Singh, Ranjeeta Shroy – Vandana Sharma, Raju (brother)- Ankur Tiwari, are unanimously excellent and take the audience through the emotional range with power, as the storyline and grows as it progresses. Interesting to note that, even after all these decades ready to applaud the team, no matter how brilliant the satire!

With the use of a minimal yet effective stage setting, a beautiful play of lights and music rendered mellifluous, depicted in a very competent direction. Whether one wants to better understand a current social issue or spark a conversation about an opposing point of view, watching this play will certainly help educate and enlighten.