Mahesh Manjrekar returns back to stage with a fresh story: ‘My play is an expression of anger’

Mahesh Manjrekar

He had sorely missed the stage. That realisation hit Mahesh Manjrekar last December when he returned to theatre as an actor with Shankar Jaikishan, after a 31-year gap. Now, the filmmaker and actor is making up for lost time. Lovable Rascal, a play directed by him, opened in January. Up next is Animal, a play that he has directed, written, and will act in when it premières on March 7 at the Tata Theatre in NCPA.

Manjrekar views Animal as a story that he couldn't get out of his system. "You cannot call it a social drama. It is an expression of anger," he told mid-day, adding that the all-pervasive apathy around him "compelled" him to write it. "It is based on the apathy of humans against everything that is happening in our society. We have become indifferent to things around us."

Ranbir Kapoor in Animal

In the Hindi drama, Manjrekar plays a small-town man, Dattu, who chases stardom in Mumbai. It is through the protagonist's eyes that we see the society's indifference. "My character reacts to whatever is happening around us. There are other characters, but I am the only actor who has dialogues. I have called it Animal because Aristotle had said ‘Man is a [social] animal.' But we have proved Aristotle wrong by showing that man is more vicious and dangerous than an animal."

The filmmaker has plans of making a movie adaptation of the play. For now, he is keeping his cards close to his chest. "I'll tell you in due time. There are plans of making it in Hindi and English, but I will not act in it," he shared.