Hilarious lust comedy The Scent Of A Man play was recently staged at Indian Habitat Centre. We spoke to the man behind the play, director Ashvin Gidwani to know more, read on:
Tell us about the play The Scent Of A Man and the idea behind it?
The idea is about couples of today and their attitude towards relationships! I have exploited all the emotions in a relationship like love, jealousy, insecurities and have given it a comic twist. Set in present day Mumbai, The Scent Of A Man is a riotous and uproarious adult comedy on lust, lies and infidelity, pickled and flavoured with a generous dose of caustic repartees, sharp wit, sly asides and unbridled sarcasm.
The action, centres on two married couples – Nikhil, a successful advertising executive and his intelligent, but slightly neurotic wife Mallika and Tupperware lady Ananya and her husband Partho, a teacher. This adult domestic comedy is bound to put you in splits from the curtain up to curtain down and it won’t be long before you start to recognise characters and situations that may have appeared in your own life as the action unravels and reaches a crescendo in the love-quadrilateral gone awry.
How did you come up with idea of a comedy of lust?
It’s a comedy of lust but a slice of life coupled with the prevalent lifestyle of today’s couples. Today’s relationships are bizarre and I see comedy in every emotion, feeling and connect. Couples are together for various reasons; for love, for companionship and they finally get habituated to each other which usually ends up in insecurities, misunderstandings and distrust.
We took two such relationships and put them in a room together and exploited every emotion with comedy. A play is normally inspired from a plot which is the seed of the idea and on many occasions it tends to evolve from there on. Then comes the structure followed by the premise and then the dialogues. All the various elements are then given to a script writer who works fervently to construct and weave the various elements together. Once a draft is in place we workshop and read with actors to perfect the style, writing, dialogues and the structure of the play to give a working play.
What is the message behind the play?
It’s really a comedy which is positioned to be an entertainer! I am here to entertain and give the audiences an opportunity to laugh at situations that we treat so seriously in our relationships. I am exploiting every emotion to give life a lighter hue.
What is lined up next, what should Delhi’tes expect in coming days?
Blame It On Yashraj with Bharat Dabholkar, Jayatia Bhatia, Ananth Mahadevan and Battle Of Da Sexes with Vir Das and Kavi Shashtri
Tell us about the play The Scent Of A Man and the idea behind it?
The idea is about couples of today and their attitude towards relationships! I have exploited all the emotions in a relationship like love, jealousy, insecurities and have given it a comic twist. Set in present day Mumbai, The Scent Of A Man is a riotous and uproarious adult comedy on lust, lies and infidelity, pickled and flavoured with a generous dose of caustic repartees, sharp wit, sly asides and unbridled sarcasm.
The action, centres on two married couples – Nikhil, a successful advertising executive and his intelligent, but slightly neurotic wife Mallika and Tupperware lady Ananya and her husband Partho, a teacher. This adult domestic comedy is bound to put you in splits from the curtain up to curtain down and it won’t be long before you start to recognise characters and situations that may have appeared in your own life as the action unravels and reaches a crescendo in the love-quadrilateral gone awry.
How did you come up with idea of a comedy of lust?
It’s a comedy of lust but a slice of life coupled with the prevalent lifestyle of today’s couples. Today’s relationships are bizarre and I see comedy in every emotion, feeling and connect. Couples are together for various reasons; for love, for companionship and they finally get habituated to each other which usually ends up in insecurities, misunderstandings and distrust.
We took two such relationships and put them in a room together and exploited every emotion with comedy. A play is normally inspired from a plot which is the seed of the idea and on many occasions it tends to evolve from there on. Then comes the structure followed by the premise and then the dialogues. All the various elements are then given to a script writer who works fervently to construct and weave the various elements together. Once a draft is in place we workshop and read with actors to perfect the style, writing, dialogues and the structure of the play to give a working play.
What is the message behind the play?
It’s really a comedy which is positioned to be an entertainer! I am here to entertain and give the audiences an opportunity to laugh at situations that we treat so seriously in our relationships. I am exploiting every emotion to give life a lighter hue.
What is lined up next, what should Delhi’tes expect in coming days?
Blame It On Yashraj with Bharat Dabholkar, Jayatia Bhatia, Ananth Mahadevan and Battle Of Da Sexes with Vir Das and Kavi Shashtri