Paanch Lakh: 10am, January 20 @Kamla Nehru College, DU

The main protagonist of the play is a small shop owner, Lalita Prasad Pandey. He and his wife lead a simple life, until one day when he dreams about a 'vardaan' from Goddess Lakshmi. According to the dream or the vardaan, Lalita was going to get five lakh rupees. He narrates this dream to his wife and relatives, convinced he would win a lottery soon. A pandit also assures him of the windfall. Through a series of events, the play explores how mere coincidences further convince Lalita the dream is a true premonition. Based on this, he and his wife engage themselves in planning for the future with all the money that they are destined to get. However, as the story reaches the climax, the bubble bursts, shattering the couple initially, but eventually teaching them that destiny is shaped with one’s hard-work and sincerity, and baseless thoughts have little to do with the way one’s life shapes up. Comic at several occasions, the play offers a discussion on how beliefs and unconscious desires make us believe in irrational ideas. Dreams do come true, but how they manifest depends on how much one works towards achieving them.

Cast in order of Appearance

Lalita Prasad                                       Kundan Kumar Singh 

Sheela                                                 Nupur Jain

Doodh Wala                                        Nidhi Kant Pandey

Makaan Maalik                                   Deepak Sheopuri

Brahmin Devta                                    Prafull Sharma

Lakshmi                                              Shalini Singh

Tarun Babu                                          Kaustubh Kaushik

 

Music & Lights                                   Sanjeev Singh

Writer                                                  Ramesh Mehta

Director                                               Saurabh Bhatnagar      

Producer                                              Anuradha Dar