Deepa Gahlot
  • Cinemaah
  • Dramaah
    • Review
    • Interview
  • Literataah
  • Feministaah
  • Nostalgiaah
  • Miscellaniaah
  • Contact Me

Deepa Gahlot

  • Cinemaah
  • Dramaah
    • Review
    • Interview
  • Literataah
  • Feministaah
  • Nostalgiaah
  • Miscellaniaah
  • Contact Me
DramaahReview

Dhummas – Play Review

by Deepa Gahlot July 20, 2019
written by Deepa Gahlot July 20, 2019
Dhummas – Play Review

Foggy Memories:

Kamlesh Mota’s new Gujarati play, Dhummas (Fog), written by Anshumali Ruparel, is described as “an emotional thriller”  which must be a term coined for Gujarati theatre, like “social comedy,” but it works for this one. (It is not a revival of Pravin Joshi’s classic play, that led to Yash Chopr’s 1969 movie Ittefaq).

Dhummas has all the thrills of an action movie, but at the core is the love two fathers, living under very different circumstances, have for their daughters. Dr Vikram Sanghvi (Linesh Fanse) is a renowned psychiatrist, who dotes on his chatterbox of a daughter Kavya (Shreya Jani).  He has just returned from a trip abroad and his wife (Rajkamal Deshpande) is temporarily bedridden due to a fractured leg, when he gets a late night emergency call from the hospital, by his friend, Dr Anuj (Jay Bhatt).

The patient is an aggressive and non-communicative teenager Kesar (Toral Trivedi), who may have killed a man at  the mental asylum where she had been placed, and the police need to know what happened. Even though it does not seem so urgent to Vikram, he still heeds the panic in his friend’s voice, and goes to the hospital.  He manages to make a little headway in getting Kesar to peek out of her shell.  When he returns home, Kavya has been kidnapped, and their house wired with camera and listening devices. To save his daughter from the kidnappers, he has to unlock a secret from Kesar’s mind, and she cannot remember anything about her past or how she landed up this hospital.

Without revealing spoilers, it has something to do with Kesar’s father (Krishna Kanabar), his attempt to save her from a gang that is after the secret.

The play moves at a furious pace, and even though the plot seems a bit far-fetched, the way it unfolds would work even better on screen. The multi-level yet compact set (designed by Subhash Asher) divides the stage into a home, a hospital and a terrorists’ den, still leaving space for scenes, not located at any of these places, to be played in the front.  Linesh Fanse and Toral Trivedi (overdoing the ‘madness’ a bit) lead the efficient cast and add to director Mota’s efforts to make Dhummas very enjoyable.

FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
Deepa Gahlot

I listened to film stories as bedtime tales, got a library card as soon as I could read, and was taken to the theatre when I was old enough to stay awake. So, I grew up to love books, movies and plays. I have been writing about them for the better part of a quarter century, won a National Award for film criticism, wrote several books, edited magazines, had writings included in anthologies... work has been fun!

previous post
Family Of Thakurganj – Movie Review
next post
Judgementall Hai Kya – Movie Review

You may also like

Aaeen – Play Review

May 13, 2022

Tape – Play Review

April 24, 2022

Ulka Mayur – Theatre Interview

April 18, 2022

Avneesh Mishra – Theatre Interview

January 11, 2022

Miracle On Matunga Street – Play Review

December 13, 2021

Lockdown Lisaisons – Play Review

December 8, 2021

With Love, Aap Ki Saiyaara – Play Review

November 10, 2021

Buddha – Play Review

November 10, 2021

Jo Dooba So Paar – Play Review

March 13, 2021

Bandish 20-20,000Hz – Play Review

January 30, 2021

About Me

About Me

I listened to film stories as bedtime tales, got a library card as soon as I could read, and was taken to the theatre when I was old enough to stay awake. So, I grew up to love books, movies and plays. I have been writing about them for the better part of a quarter century, won a National Award for film criticism, wrote several books, edited magazines, had writings included in anthologies... work has been fun!

Subscribe To My Newsletter And Stay Updated With My New Posts

Recent Posts

  • Bosch: Legacy – Web Series Review

    May 24, 2022
  • Run Viola Run : Feministaah

    May 24, 2022
  • Modern Love Mumbai – Web Series Review

    May 24, 2022

Keep in touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved by Deepa Gahlot. Designed by FQI


Back To Top