Retelling Romeo and Juliet

Noted theatre director Feroz Abbas Khan’s latest musical ‘Raunaq & Jassi’ is a celebration of love, inspired by William Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet. Set in the rural Punjab of the 1950s, it narrates the tale of two lovers torn between their feuding clans, the Jagirdars and Chaudharys. “The play is a very strong statement on love and against hatred. This is a love story that was even seen in Romeo and Juliet, as to what does it finally takes to wake up to realise that we need to put our faith in love and not hatred,” says the director who chose Punjab as it has given the most enduring love stories that reflect even in their music, literature, and poetry.

While the play may be set in the 50s, Khan is proud to present a strong female voice in the form of Neha Sargam who essays the role of Jassi. In the play, the young heroine calls out the patriarchal system. For Neha, Jassi is a woman who’s relevant to any era and period in time.  “She (Jassi) is a normal girl who believes love is for everyone. She lives by this belief and is also a rebel,” smiles Neha. According to the actor, in the current scenario where people are thriving solely on hatred, the play is here to help bring that shift.

Khan, who prefers his actors to immerse into the characters, put on a special training program where the actors weren’t allowed to go anywhere near the script for about a month. “We had a reading once, after that, we didn’t touch it. We used to sit and read poetry for hours and were made to even write one. Sir even asked me to write about Jassi, her childhood, family and village,” shares Neha.

Their method acting even impressed Singer-actor Illa Arun who was delighted at the sheer hard work of the young actors and the great acclimation of folk tale bringing the social issues to stage. “A folk tale remains alive only when we come out with our interpretations, bringing out its relevance even in the current time and period. And the way Feroz has brought it onto the stage is different from the many narrations of this love story we have already seen,” says Arun.

But theatre actor and director Dolly Thakore remembers that despite the elaborate set-up, there was something amiss in the first half. “It is interesting and certainly extravagant, in terms of set lighting, sound, choreography, and costume. However, emotions haven’t come out yet. It might possibly evolve as the time goes on,” opines Thakore, adding, “It is a great challenge to translate Shakespeare into the Hindi stage. It is done in films, but to adapt it is as a musical is quite a challenge.”

With three musicals to his name, Khan might find the task of directing another daunting but it is also the most satisfying. “It challenges you. After Mughal-E-Azam, I thought I would not do it for a long time. It exhausts you, so every time you stage one, you wish not to do it again. But I suppose it is the audience that inspires me,” he concludes.