A play that deals with stress

Don’t Worry Be Happy portrays a couple trying to figure out the reason that’s causing stress in their lives and how to avoid it with a tinge of humour

The light hearted Marathi drama Don’t Worry Be Happy, starring Spruha Joshi and Umesh Kamat in lead roles, is all set to complete its 100th show in the city this weekend. The play, written by Mihir Rajda and directed by Advait Dadarkar, presents the story of a young working couple Akshay and Pranoti Pradhan, who are both over-occupied with their respective commitments, with no time even for a honeymoon. It gives a timely message to such stressed married couples, for solving their issues in a harmonious way.

The story revolves around Akshay and Pranoti, a 21st century typical Maharashtrian couple who are immersed in their career. They are both for family planning and adopt a no-kids policy for first five years of marriage. The story unravels as Pranoti is diagnosed with PCOD (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and this changes the entire story of the couple. “This is a world of competition and we end up adding more and more stress to our lives on a daily basis. This play focuses on the universal problem of stressful lives of the younger generations and how it ultimately affects their overall life,” says Umesh.

Umesh and Spruha gained much appreciation for their role in the TV serial Eka Lagnachi Tisari Goshta and their chemistry was loved by viewers. This play is their third project together.

The play touches many issues such as infertility, marital hardships, extended family issues which are common nowadays. The main challenge for the writer Mihir Rajda was to give out a serious message in a humorous way. “This is a very contemporary topic and it could have been a really serious drama. However, I always wanted to offer the best to the viewers and so I decided to subtly built it around humour and portray it in a way that audience would love to watch it. This is why this drama is very effective in delivering the message to the audience on a high note,” he adds.

Spruha believes that the play stages the universal issue of depression in such a way that everybody feels it’s their own story. “Depression and many such mental disorders are affecting our lives. However, we have a problem in accepting them and so we look at them with a very different point of view,” she adds.
 When: August 13, 5 pm
 Where: Yashwantrao Chavhan Natyagruha, Kothrud

Originally published on The Golden Sparrow