Down nostalgia road: Revisiting the play 'Pune Highway' ahead of the release of its film adaptation

An early 2000s photograph of the Mumbai Pune Expressway that laid the foundation for DaCunha’s story. Pics/Ashish Raje

How did you miss it, man?" is the gentle question coming across the phone. Rahul daCunha sounds a touch disappointed that yours truly gave the recent nostalgia of the Guns N' Roses concert in Mumbai a miss. Hard not to be nostalgic when we are talking about the two-decade-old play that forms the basis for his upcoming film this week, Pune Highway.

"It [2004] was a very different time. People had the time, energy and interest in true culture. It meant writing in all areas. Film, advertisements, cinema and theatre," says daCunha, also a columnist with the Sunday edition of this paper. Having founded RAGE Productions in 1992 with Rajit Kapur and Shernaz Patel, daCunha was well on his way as a mainstay of the English theatre scene in Mumbai then.

The early inroads

It was also an era before quick flights. The completion of the Mumbai Pune Expressway in 2002 meant that travel between the two major metropolises was faster. This writer is old enough to remember the tinge of fear when relatives would take the new highway at night. It was the kernel to daCunha's idea.

Rajit Kapur and Bhargava Krishna (left) in moments from the play. Pic Courtesy/Rahul daCunha

"Early in drama school, I learned to use the news for snippets of ideas. I remember reading about miscreants who'd lay a sack of rocks by the highway to look like a body, and rob people. One of these stories was about three boys, who were out on a trip. It stayed with me," daCunha reveals.

A co-writer on the film, Bhargava ‘Bugs' Krishna was still in recovery in 2003. "I had just come out of hospital after a pulmonary embolism caused by severe diabetes, and years of overworking myself. So, I had taken a couple of months to recover when Rahul reached out about the play. People warned me not to go back on stage for I might die. But Rahul was adamant that this might help me live. And I did it," Krishna reveals.

Friendships on stage

The first reading took place at Rachana Sansad in Prabhadevi. But rehearsals were often nomadic. "I remember we even travelled to Pune to get the flavour. We stayed in this downmarket hotel room for a few days," daCunha laughs. "Lodge," Krishna corrects as we mention it, "There is a sense of claustrophobia in the play. Amid the tension of the cops and the ganglord, there was also this very threatening waiter - not in the film - wonderfully played by Shankar Sachdev."

Rahul daCunha

It was these friendships that made the adventure enjoyable. "I always used to wonder why [Martin] Scorsese worked with Robert DeNiro or Leonardo DiCaprio? It is comfort. I know exactly what they [Rajit/Bugs] can do," daCunha shares. "Remember, we were still working in advertising. Every day after work, post 6 pm, we would show up somewhere to rehearse. Theatre was our social life," Krishna adds. Back then, you could have found them at Ankur in Fort. "Or at On Toes, when around Prithvi Theatre. I used to be a big foodie in those days," he recalls.

Two decades on

After 150 shows in the early 2000s, the duo finally turned their play into a film. "For what was essentially a Bombay story, I never expected it to travel to Germany, Holland, Seoul, Washington - nine cities. I suppose they all found that friendship familiar. It is the same familiarity we were looking for when I cast Anuvab Pal, Amit Sadh and Jim Sarbh," daCunha shares. As a millennial, one definitely recognises the flavour, like a sip of Goldspot in the summer.

On: May 23
At: Screens across the city