Winsome losers

Darsheel Safary, star of Taare Zameen Par, has teamed up with Abhishek Pattnaik, who is also the playwright,to create a theatrical production called Two Adorable Losers. This is the creative portrayal on the attempts of a student weak in statistics and a professor weak in English to recover their conviction in their own abilities.

Ishaan in Taare Zameen Par, disliked school. Now he is Akshay, a college-going teen with an inferiority complex. Darsheel, who gravitates easily to such interesting roles, shares, “I played the role of Akshay, who is a third-year BA student. He has an inferiority complex about being weak in statistics. Every individual faces such a situation at one or the other point in their lives, so the audience will relate to it. Besides, the play has something in it for every age group – nostalgia for the older generation and relatable humour for the younger ones. It’s also got a message for students, so, I feel this is one of the rare plays that cater to all three generations.”

The play is unique due to the fact that the two performers on stage play 12 different characters between them.” Each character has its quirks and vibes. The message conveyed through themis that all it can take is that one person to come and change your life. The student is struggling academically and socially and how he meets this ally in the form of a teacher who helps discover things within himself that he didn’t know existed. By the end of it you will be in high spirits,” Darsheel assures.

Director Murtuza Kutianawala elaborates, “I believe in strong content rather than big sets. Abhishek made sure that the 12 characters would be shared by both actors. Also, we always wanted to make sure this play doesn’t get experimental or dark in any way so the music and lights were designed in the simplest manner.” Producer of the play, Suketu Shah, co-founder of Out of the Box Theatre Productions, says, “The more I discussed the script, the more the characters grew on me. Their chemistry and the thought of them needing each other to overcome their respective complexes is unique.”

Abhishek Pattnaik, actor and playwright, shares the secret of his inspiration, “My dad dispelled my notions that English is spoken only by knowledgeable people. The character of the quirky teacher also shows how a person copes with the loss of confidence. I gave this character purity and positivity that do not demoralise the audience, as the crisis always comes with a solution.”