Review: COLORS KHIDKIYAAN THEATRE FESTIVAL in Mumbai

A unique theatre festival of its kind that aims to bring together two most important components of the entertainment in India - performing arts and Bollywood reached a successful completion in Mumbai.

The event titled Colors Khidkiyaan Theatre Festival, now in its second edition concluded in Mumbai this month. The highlights of the event included a moving tribute to late veteran artist Om Puri who passed away last year. Mr Puri was one of the most staggering figures in Indian entertainment, who constantly blurred the lines between art house, mainstream, cross continental and theatrical performances. Apart from an impressive line up of theatre shows that enchanted the audiences there was also a red carpet event.

Famous artists who have done considerable work both in theatre and Bollywood such as Naseeruddin Shah, Sushant Singh, Richa Chaddha, Rajkummar Rao and Imtiaz Ali attended the show. Other Bollywood stars that formed the glitterati line up included Kirti Sanon, Dia Mirza, Suniel Shetty, Siddharth Malhotra amongst many others.

Artists were seen engaging in theater workshops organized during the event. The five-day program also featured live productions from prominent playwrights and a masterclass by acting coach Mukesh Chhabra.

Some of the plays that received critical appreciation included - Jug Jug Jiyo by Smita Bharti, Bade Miyan Deewane by Imraan Rasheed and Bobby Breaker by Geeta Agarwal. Musical performances by Swanand Kirkire and poetry recitals were amongst the other engagement that drew applaud.

Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala who attended the theatre festival admitted that it was theatre that first made her think of taking up acting professionally for her. She said, "I started my work from theatre in school and got encouraged to develop the craze for acting."

Actor Ayushmann Khurana who was also seen attending the festival said, "it' a great step to make theatre mainstream in our country." He added, "Theatre today is food for soul and not food for stomach."

The last day of the festival saw the screening of much acclaimed play Saarthak Behan by Ishteyak Arif.

The impressive turn out from the mainstream Indian film industry including many stalwarts from theatre who have made an impressive trajectory of work across both spectrums made the event definitely an initiative to watch out for in the future.

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