IF you didn’t know the source material of Rajat Kapoor’s play, Karamjale Brothers, before walking into it, then chances are high you’d be confused for some time while watching it, too. Because, an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, it is less Russian vodka and more desi daru. It retains the original’s story and spirit—revolving around a patriarch and his four sons; the identity of his murderer; the questions of free will, rationality, theism (Dostoevsky’s eternal preoccupation)— but, set in Delhi, it unfolds in a hilarious, quasi-farcical tone.
Karamjale Brothers itches for a chance to crack a (silly) joke—its tomfoolery makes the play hilarious, compelling, and endearing. Here, Dostoevsky isn’t treated as a highpriest of modern realism—sombre, sincere, severe—but like a dost, a friend, with whom you can have a swig (or three). In a crucial scene, when the cops bust a party, a character says, “Yeh Noida waalon ko bulana hi nahin chahiye tha (We shouldn’t have called these Noida-types).” The third Karamazov brother, Alyosha, becomes Alok (or “Aloo”), who hears the compliment, “Tu toh sweet hai—you’re like a sweet potato.” A forlorn lover says, “Ishq ne humein nikamma kar diya, warna humaari bhi Kamla Nagar mein kapde ki dukaan thi.”
Denne historien er fra September 21, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 21, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Trump, Up And Charging
'Many countries are nervous about Donald Trump returning to power, but India is not one of them'
Post and Past the Oil in Azerbaijan
As the UN climate conference takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan traces the history of the hydrocarbon industry through the lens of postage stamps
Bhutto's Nehru Story
Nehru's principle of \"compromise and argument\" remains the only workable formula for South Asian leaders
Breathless on Bachchan
Cédric Dupire's documentary The Real Superstar is an irreverent, experimental archive of Amitabh Bachchan's life and his stardom
The Anaphora to Zeugma of the Queen's English
Shashi Tharoor's book is a logophile's candy shop, full of fun, surprises and insights
The Wind Knocked
THE wind knocked on the door. Hesitantly. Wanting to be let in. It had heard the murmuring of the flames. And knew that there was a fire. The wind sought shelter.
The Way Home
“We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams; we are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.”—Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
The War Artist
Cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco is in search of the truths distorted by conventional narratives
Mining Adivasi Votes
If the BJP manages to win Jharkhand, it will be the third mineral-rich state after Odisha and Chhattisgarh that will fall into the party's kitty
Unequal Republic
Political parties make promises of equal represention to women, but patriarchy continues to dominate electoral democracy