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Hamlet : The Clown Prince


I am adding a new section to the blog. A review of plays that I watch.
I think plays are so much better than movies... only people with real acting chops can perform on stage while movies are more about jazz than acting. I enjoy plays more than movies. But, they cost more and its difficult to find reviews for them. How do I figure out which play to spend money on and how do I know if a review is genuine?
Hopefully, this section will encourage people to watch plays more often.

I don't have pictures because we are not allowed to click any while watching the play.
I got to know about this play when Rajat Kapoor posted it on twitter. Twitter is the source of all the news, reviews, trends... and everything else for me these days. I booked tickets immediately for this play and King Lear (I will watch it today and post a review tomorrow).

The play stars Vinay Pathak, Kalki Koechlin, Neil Bhoopalam, Namit Das, Atul Kumar, Puja Sarup and is directed by Rajat Kapoor.
Everyone knows Vinay Pathak (Bheja Fry fame) and Kalki.
Neil Bhoopalam played the politician- Prime Minister candidate in the series '24'
Namit Das has starred in many movies- notably as Ranbir's best friend in Wake Up Sid and in Ghanchakkar. I really like this guy.
Puja Sarup is a theatre actress.
Atul Kumar is an actor and director who heads his own theatre company.

The play is about a bunch of clowns performing Hamlet instead of being their usual funny selves. So, there they are... playing different parts and helping each other with lines... adding lines or mixing up lines... or just wondering why Shakespeare did or did not write something. Add to the mix their personal equations as clowns and it is a hilarious concoction.
There is a lot of audience interaction making you feel like you are part of the play. The accents are spot on... not a note/word off. There is enough gibberish to amuse.
Hamlet is a very serious and boring play. There, I said it. Hamlet is boring and thats why I avoided it in school. Also, I did not understand WHY Hamlet did not just take a sword and kill his uncle. It was so easy... but he mourned, then became mad and deranged, then ran away, then had a duel and then killed the uncle. I mean... what was the whole point of 8 hrs of the play?
The clowns also address this point. They keep taunting Vinay Pathak, who plays Hamlet, that he does not do anything... only whine and mourn.
Special mention to Neil Bhoopalam who is super awesome. He plays a clown fond of dancing and breaks into a dance at every opportunity. He is hilarious.
Puja Sarup won everyone's hearts. She is super cute and so damn funny.
This is the best play I have seen and everyone should catch it when its in their city. Very, very creative. I don't think any movie I have watched compared to this play when it comes to acting, creativity, script, dialogues, costumes.



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