Char chaughi…A Marathi Play

Been long time… An year or so…watched a Marathi play called Char chaughi!

A few more experiments to go now… We’ll get to see Rohini Hattangadi perform live… A play featuring Mukta Barve… That in itself felt reason enough to go and watch.

I had heard and read countless mixed reviews about the play, but still made time to go. Maybe that’s the play’s success, that despite everything, I chose to go. Because these days… where is the time, and why take on someone else’s pain?

Instead, we end up spending time watching those mindless Reels that show up uninvited… Anyway…”What we see through different media usually reflects what’s happening or can happen in the world.

This play has been running for the past thirty years, and so it’s a play of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. A mother who didn’t marry but gave birth to three daughters, raising them to be educated, cultured, and strong. The eldest, Vidya, highly qualified and now a mother to a two-year-old, is hurt by her husband’s extramarital affair. She leaves the house and fights in court for joint custody of her daughter. The second daughter is educated and working, but her husband lacks the ability to find or keep a job. Still, he craves a wealthy, flashy lifestyle – and she’s caught in that pressure but still pushes through each day with confidence. The youngest daughter is rebellious, perhaps lost and confused… She believes that she and her two male friends can form a family.

These are the ‘Char Choughi’ (a phrase meaning “just any four women”) – trying to live like the rest or perhaps live differently in their own way.”Rohini Tai’s (Rohini Hattangadi’s) performance was commendable – she portrayed a woman who faces the consequences of her decisions head-on with great strength. Mukta Barve and Vidya (her character) are inseparable. I had heard a lot about her monologue… and she delivered it beautifully. But what I liked even more was how the director gave pace to the scene through dialogue and stage movement. Parna Pethe’s portrayal of the youngest sister, who also acts as a kind of narrator, moves the play forward powerfully.

To present a viewpoint that goes against the tide and do it with confidence is tough – and yet the audience, even while laughing, was listening to her thoughts. People say this play is ahead of its time… and maybe that’s why. All the other actors also performed their roles brilliantly, creating a strong play overall.

This play reminded me of the 2019 film adaptation of the novel Little Women. That too had four girls, but they and these ‘Char Choughi’ are very different.

In the film, while the father is away at war, the mother raises her four daughters. One becomes a writer, and the story begins with her. In an era when only a woman’s beauty was appreciated, she attempts to prove her existence and intelligence through her writing. Her nature leads her to face many challenges. Another sister is simple, with a love for family and modest expectations. She too faces hardships but handles them as they come. The third is a painter, with the knack of bending situations her way – she achieves wealth, love, and prestige. The fourth, quiet and reserved, plays the piano. Her art makes her memorable despite her short life. Along with them, their mother, father, a wealthy aunt – all bring their own colors to the story: the roles of men and women, war as a backdrop, and the motivation to live for others. The original novel was written by Louisa May Alcott in 1868, and the film too offers a glimpse into that time.

Times are changing, problems are being solved, the boundaries of social consciousness seem to be expanding… but… the struggle for identity, dignity, and unconditional equality… that still continues…