Karl Marx In Kalbadevi

What happens when Karl Marx returns from the dead and lands straight into the buzzing chaos of Kalbadevi, Mumbai’s most unapologetically capitalist neighbourhood? He is furious. Not just about capitalism running wild or billionaires launching rockets — but because people have twisted his words, misused his ideas, and turned ‘Marxist’ into a punchline. He wants to set the record straight. But Mumbai is not in the mood for lectures. So he adapts. He rants, he jokes, he dances Gangnam Style, he reviews a Gujarati thali at Bhagat Tarachand, he learns Gujarati because of his admiration for Mahatma Gandhi, and he tries to visit Mani Bhavan only to find the gates shut. Written by Uttam Gada and directed by Manoj Shah, this one-man play has been Ideas Unlimited’s calling card for over twelve years. Satchit Puranik — who looks the part with his wild hair, beard, and a tilak on his forehead — brings a manic energy to Marx that makes the philosopher feel less like a historical figure and more like your most opinionated uncle at a family wedding. The play premiered at the NCPA Vasant Gujarati Natya Utsav in 2013, has since been performed in Gujarati, Hindi, and Hinglish, and staged at Wilson College for the 150th anniversary of Das Kapital, at Aligarh Muslim University, and at JAINA conventions in the United States. As Time Out Mumbai’s Deepa Gahlot put it: the play is ‘enough to provoke the audience to go back thinking, this Karlbhai was one clever dude, eh?’

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