Over cups of laal chai — Javed Siddiqui's delicious recipe for tea with hints of lemon, ginger, salt and sugar, but no milk — the discussion at the noted lyricist and scriptwriter's Andheri office is one that never loses steam in the world of theatre. At what point should a playwright let go of his script for the director to take over? And should a director hover in the wings to fix slip-ups in real time, or be in the audience and let the actor play his part? The director and actor, in this case, are Siddiqui's son-in-law Salim Arif, and daughter Lubna Salim. The play in question is the monologue, Gudamba, that brings the trio together in their respective roles, and premieres this Thursday.

Gudamba, Siddiqui explains, is a dish made of raw mango and jaggery. "It is sweet, sour and salty. It can be eaten and drunk. What could be a better metaphor for life than this?" he says, referring to the plot of the monologue that revolves around an ambitious young girl Amina, who chooses to navigate the domestic politics of the joint family she is married into with self-deprecating humour.