27 September,2026 09:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Junisha Dama
The play follows Arijit and Rupali, two strangers who meet while travelling to destinations unknown. Or at least, that is what Rupali believes. Arijit is convinced that she is his estranged wife, while Rupali insists that they have never met
What happens when two people share a past but remember it completely differently? That question lies at the heart of Silvatein, a play written, directed and produced by theatre artist Shatarupa Bhattacharyya. After travelling to several cities, Silvatein now arrives in Mumbai for the first time.
The play follows Arijit and Rupali, two strangers who meet while travelling to destinations unknown. Or at least, that is what Rupali believes. Arijit is convinced that she is his estranged wife, while Rupali insists that they have never met.
As their conversation unfolds, their conflicting versions of a shared life begin to emerge. As the audience you will be left to question: What is real and whose memory can be trusted?
For Bhattacharyya, the premise emerged from her own lived experiences. "The central question the play is asking also gives the play its feminist dimension," she says.
While Arijit remains certain about their shared history, Rupali repeatedly refuses the identity and memories he attributes to her. "Her refusal asks us to pause before treating Arijit's memory as the truth," says Bhattacharyya.
She says she is particularly interested in giving equal weight to Rupali's account, including her silences. "I was very interested in that everyday act of listening, allowing her account and even her silence, everything to have weight," she says.
Bhattacharyya describes Silvatein as an autopsy of incompatibility, examining what remains after a relationship has broken down. Rather than looking for one dramatic incident or assigning blame, the play examines the small fractures that can accumulate over time. "Two people can love each other and still feel increasingly alone together," she says.
The play also deliberately refuses to provide a neat resolution. "No one says who is right, who is wrong, who is to be blamed," Bhattacharyya says. She says she wants the audience to sit with the uncertainty and construct its own understanding of what happened.
The play also marks Bhattacharyya's first production as a writer, a director, and a producer, following nearly 15 years in theatre, primarily as an actor. The script, originally written in English, was translated into Hindi by Puneet Gupta. Bhattacharyya wanted the language to remain colloquial rather than lyrical, reflecting the world of the two people from similar background.
For her, Rupali's journey is ultimately about a woman's right to her own version of her past. "It actually allowed me to explore a woman's right to her own memory of a relationship and even to leave some things unexplained," she says.
WHEN: Oct 1st, 9 pm
WHERE: Rangashila Theatre, Versova
TO BOOK: District.in
