35 Years of Fearless Theatre: A Retrospective

When Manoj Shah staged Master Phoolmani at the Prithvi Festival in 1999, he had no idea it would become the longest-running production in our repertoire. Sixteen years it ran, from 1999 to 2015. That kind of longevity in Indian theatre is almost unheard of.

But longevity was never the goal. The goal was always the same: make theatre that tells the truth. Make theatre that refuses to look away.

In the early years, we were prolific and experimental. Between 1999 and 2005, we staged nearly forty productions — monologues, dramatised readings, full-length plays, poetry collages. We performed wherever we could: Prithvi Theatre, NCPA, Forbes Gujarati Sabha, book launches, literary festivals.

The mid-2000s brought a shift toward what would become our signature: biographical plays. Mareez in 2004. Apurva Avsar in 2007. These weren’t conventional biopics. They were explorations of ideas through the lens of extraordinary lives.

Then came Karl Marx In Kalbadevi in 2012, and everything changed. The idea of Karl Marx visiting a chaotic Mumbai neighbourhood was so delightfully absurd, so perfectly Indian, that it became our calling card. It’s been performed in Hindi, Hinglish, and English, at colleges, corporates, and international conferences.

The last decade has seen us push into new territory: Dr. Anandibai performed in three languages, Adbhut exploring mental health, Mr. Apple reimagining Steve Jobs through an Indian lens. Each production is different, but the DNA is the same — strong writing, minimal staging, maximum truth.

As we look at the 99 productions behind us and the unknown number ahead, one thing is clear: the hunger hasn’t diminished. If anything, it’s sharper than ever.