Sharman Joshi brings an award-winning play to India

Sharman Joshi has acted in several plays, including Main Aur Tum and the Gujarati version of the popular drama, All The Best. He has also directed theatre productions in the past. The Hate Story 3 (2015) actor has now joined hands with a UK firm to bring an award-winning stage production The Play That Goes Wrong to India. The play has won awards such as the Laurence Olivier Award (2015) and WhatsOnStage Awards for comedy (2015), among others. The play is a fascicle murder mystery.

Talking about the collaboration, Sharman says, “It just so happens that the producers of the play and I were looking for each other. They [the producers] knew of me and my plays. I am excited to bring the play to India by November end. We will have a four-month rehearsal and we intend to make it in three languages — English, Gujarati and Marathi. It’s going to be a never-seen-before act in the Indian theatre circuit. We will have actors jumping off 10ft-high platforms and flying in the air, as the play has a lot of action-based comedy.”

While Sharman is excited about his new play, he is also aware that the reception for plays in India is different from that abroad. “Unfortunately, we don’t have as large an audience in India as in New York, USA and London, UK. Moreover, shows abroad are promoted and marketed well. Tourists want to see a play or witness a musical. Here, we are yet to witness that. Having said this, I must add that the Gujarati and Marathi communities still have their theatre culture intact. They ensure that their kids are enriched and inclined towards art and culture.”

Sharman is neck-deep in preparations for the play. His “frequent trips to London” keep him busy as he has only four months left to the final day. While he won’t be acting in the play, because he has to shoot for three movies this year, the actor says that he doesn’t “look at theatre vis-à-vis career”. “I don’t do or think about plays and theatre with the thought of how it will help my career. In fact, it’s the other way round. Doing theatre helps bring freshness to my life, it’s like oxygen for me and I don’t look at plays with any other thought other than the pleasure of doing them.”