This is the story of Manjula Sharma- Hindi professor turned author of the bestselling English novel ‘The river has no memories’. The play begins with Manjula giving an interview to a TV channel prior to the screening of a Hindi telefilm based on her novel. It is only after the interview is over that the real drama unfolds- Manjula suddenly finds herself face to face with her own image on the TV screen. From this point onwards, the play takes an eerie turn, as Manjula’s alter ego takes her into forbidden territory, confronting her with all the ugly truths that Manjula has tried to bury under her new found fame thanks to the success of the novel.
As the skeletons start tumbling out of the closet, Manjula goes from denial to reluctant acceptance to extreme rage and guilt at having ill treated her physically challenged yet more accomplished sister Malini- the real author of the bestselling novel. Manjula’s resentment at having played second fiddle all her life to the pretty, intelligent and vivacious Malini not only when it came to her parents, but also her husband, makes her seem more of a victim than a victimizer.
Manjula’s attempts at masking her feeling of inadequacy and seeking self validation through the fame brought about by the novel come to naught in the hair-raising climax which shows her horror as she is made to realize that by passing off her sister’s novel as her own, she has yet again lost her identity and is nothing more than a fraud.
Written by Girish Karnad and directed by ad guru Alyque Padamsee, this is a play not to be missed. Watch out for Shabana Azmi as she expresses myriad emotions effortlessly, both as Manjula and Malini. This play was first performed in Kannada and Hindi by the prominent theatre personality Arundhati Nag.
