Be it the ruling party or opposition; the political leaders are always concerned
about retaining their position. Each one of them aspires to climb up, even if it
requires compromise with his opponents. Written by P.L. Mayekar and directed by
Vinay Apte, the brand new Marathi play 'Sattadhish' presents this political rat
race aimed at achieving power.
The play successfully portrays two different types of politicians Dhananjay
Throat ( Dr. Amol Kolhe) and Abhijit Desai (Vidyadhar Joshi), both good friends
but belong to different parties. Dhananjay who is an important Minister in a
coalition Government, is happily married with wife Anita (Chaitrali Gupte)
playing as a friend, philosopher and guide to her husband. On the other hand,
his friend Abhijit who belongs to the opposition party is a great admirer of a
socialist leader Appaji (whose character resembles to Jaiprakash Narayan, the
former leader). Abhijit is in relationship with ambitious Devika Lad (Sheetal
Kshirsagar) who is an artist by profession and is working for a big Ad Firm.
Appaji is against Abhijit's wish of marrying Devika, who according to him has a
shady past.
Anita, who is a family friend of both Abhijit and Devika, however feels that
Abhijit and Devika should tie a knot. In between, many developments take place
and Dhananjay Thorat, playing his political moves according to the changing
situations, leads the opposition with the help of his friend, to become the
youngest CM. Abhijit too occupies a Ministerial berth. But, their happiness is
short lived. Thereafter, how the two friends choose their own paths and how it
affects their personal lives, is all that 'Sattadhish' tries to explain.
Various events taking place in the political arena, from time to time, are
narrated as news items on the TV screen on stage. The TV screen effectively
plays the role of an anchor
since popular Marathi TV news readers of the past, are shown reading the news. With his strong will to remain in power, Dr. Amol
Kolhe plays the shrewd politician very well. Chaitrali plays his wife and
political counselor more confidently and with ease. In the play Vidyadhar Joshi
has an emotionally strong role to play, and the versatile actor has lived up to
the expectations of the director. Sheetal Kshirsagar as Devika is perfectly
suited to her role and does full justice to her character. Vilas Sawant with his
perfect diction and graceful voice is highly impressive as a veteran leader.
The play does send across a clear message to the audience that the real
'Sattadhish' is not the one chosen few politicians but it is the 'Aam Adami.' It
goes on to show how today's young generation is opposed to the existing
political practices, through the hidden character of Sunny, college going son of
Dhananjay, living in a hostel. In the climax, it is disclosed that Sunny intends
to join opposition for keeping a check on the Government. Isn't that a clear
message to today's power hungry politicians? It would have been better, if Sunny
had come live in the climax scene for a face to face interaction with his
father.
The topic of this play is very timely. Using his expertise and skills, director
Vinay Apte has been able to present this thought provoking subject through
'Sattadhish' very effectively.
