Eighty minutes well spent, was the first thing I said to myself at the end of #Bosslady, an original script by Nayantara Nayar and Tanvi Patel. #Bosslady introduces us to the world of Amritha Venkataraman, an unsatisfied lawyer struggling to deal with her secretary (Sahil Mathur), often described as ‘horse manure’; Raghav (Vidyuth Gargi), her psychoanalytic stalker and Baba M (Karthik A), an astrologer sent to review her. All of this coupled with an alcohol dependence problem and a family with whom she has a dysfunctional relationship, finally blows up in a confrontation with her father, while inebriated. The story revolves around the aftermath of this confrontation(involving Tendulkar, of course) and an Instagram picture posted by her incompetent secretary. Amply interspersed with expletives and references, the play lived up to its ‘suitable for only 17 years and above’ tag, without coming off as crass.
Tanvi Patel playing Amritha Venkataraman successfully portrayed the character’s transition from a bitchy, demanding boss to a self-pitying drunk and finally to a woman standing up to her father in her sister’s defence. Sahil Mathur as her gay secretary, brought to life a flamboyant, overenthusiastic, eager-to-please personal assistant working hard to bring Amritha “coffee the colour of an African person” in order to win the bonus that would fund his trip to see Finland’s heavy metal children’s bands.
The loud, dhoti and suit clad pseudo-PR-guru-cum-palm-reader with the heavily accented “Man!”s , Babu M was a hit with the audience. The character’s appearances satirized the deep, philosophical discussion that often finds its way into mainstream theatre. Karthik A’s entrance as Baba M was greeted with thunderous applause and hooting, a testament to how popular he is in Chennai’s youth theatre circles.
Vidyuth Gargi played the suave, confident charmer to the hilt, bringing Amritha a pineapple in an attempt to woo her. He walked in and out of cupboards with ease and smoothly straddled a transition from being a flippant flirt to a friend dishing out generous helpings of tough love.
Through this entire unfolding of events, there was a young man strapped to a chair and held captive. No one asked who he was or why he was there. All we know is that he had an appointment to meet Amritha and looked and smelled like an intern. It is only at the very end that the entire play is turned on its head, leaving the audience wondering what it was that they had spent the last eighty minutes watching.
The play was an entertaining attempt by a young troupe to make observations on the relationships and lifestyles of a majority of the audience. Individual actors outdid themselves with Sahil pulling off the blustering secretary perfectly and Karthik slipping seamlessly into the skin of Baba M. The live music by Armaan and Haricharan added that extra flourish to the overall production.While the comic timing fell flat at places, and volume and clarity went off a few times, the entire package really did come together. #greateffort #goodlaughs #funscript #Bosslady.
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