Comedy of Errors

Playwright and filmmaker Paritosh Painter is back on the theatre circuit, after two years, with his new play Get Rid of My Wife

Husband and wives all over the world share a love-hate relationship. But what happens when a wife gets kidnapped and her multi-millionaire husband deems it as good riddance and refuses to pay the ransom? To complicate matters, the kidnappers are three deaf, dumb and blind men, who see this opportunity as a shortcut to pay off their debts and earn some quick money. Playwright and filmmaker Paritosh Painter’s new comedy Get Rid Of My Wife, which opened recently at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), is based on this premise.

Produced by Ashwin Gidwani, the play features television actress Smita Bansal, Nasir Khan, Balvinder Singh Suri, Jayesh Thakkar, Tania Abrol, Shruti Sharma and Paritosh Painter himself.

Paritosh, who was missing from the theatre circuit since two years, was eager to make a comeback with a comedy play. “Ashwin and I had been toying with the idea of working together since three years. But nothing was working out as I was busy writing the script for Dhamaal and directing Paying Guest, my first feature film. Finally, this January, after discussing several scripts, I bounced off an idea to Ashwin and it worked out,” he says.

Paritosh, who has scripted, directed and also acted in Get Rid of My Wife says, “This is almost like a third instalment of a series of plays that we started a few years ago called See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, that starred a deaf, dumb and blind trio as protagonists. The plays revolved around these trio’s misadventures.”

Paritosh later adopted the basic concept of these three characters to a weekly serial called Shree Adi Manav, which was aired on SAB TV. Get Rid Of My Wife, in turn, is based on a plot that Paritosh had conceived and shot for Shree Adi Manav. “Though it was a one-hour episode, the plot was one of a kind that could be converted and turned into a play.” He started working on the plot and finally scripted it into a two-hour play.

Surprisingly, he decided to rope in Smita Bansal, who is known for her serious onscreen image, for Get Rid Of My Wife. She plays the role of the millionaire’s wife, who rather than getting scared after being kidnapped, sees this as a lifetime opportunity to become famous.

Paritosh explains, “I had seen Smita in Paani Puri, a comedy show on television. I realised that she had a comic streak and a good sense of timing. She fit the bill perfectly for the wife’s role.”

However, this was not the first time Smita had acted in a play. She was earlier seen in Ashwin Gidwani’s Mad About Money. She says, “I am known for portraying serious roles on the small screen. So initially I was inhibited about portraying a full-fledged comedy role. But Paritosh was confident that I would be able to carry it off.”

According to her, the biggest challenge was to alter her acting skills to suit the medium. “Acting on stage is quite different from that in television. In TV, there are lots of close-ups so you have to be subtle. But on stage, you need to be loud, in terms of volume, body language and gestures.”

Get Rid Of My Wife is also the first comedy venture of producer Ashwin Gidwani, who had earlier presented Walking On Broken Das, City Of Dreams, The Alchemist and Double Deal. He says, “Of late, there has been a dearth of good comedy plays. Moreover, even I have been associated with different genres and have never really dabbled in comedy. So this was the right opportunity.”

The cast and crew, who are planning to stage the play abroad, are confident that it will be a hit, especially with children. “Kids always enjoy when adults indulge in some tomfoolery. These three physically-challenged characters make a fool of themselves. The humour lies in their loud actions and different body language,” says Paritosh.

Ashwin, on his part, says, “This play is on the lines of super-hit comedy films like No Entry and Welcome. If you have enjoyed watching them, then you will definitely love Get Rid Of My Wife.”