No movement on stage - just two people sitting at their own tables and reading letters- Can one truly have an interesting play under such conditions? This question was probably on the minds of the 800 odd people who gathered at the John Hancock Auditorium on Sunday October 27, to watch Shabana Azmi and Farooq Shaikh present an Indian adaptation of the famous drama Love Letters written by A.K.Guerney.

Titled Tumhari Amrita the play was brought to Boston by the America India Foundation. The skeptics in the crowd who may have wondered about a play where only letters would be read had their doubts soon put to rest when Shabana Azmi and Farooq Shaikh took the stage. Within seconds they had the audience spellbound with their superb acting and charisma. That combined with Javed Siddhique�s powerful script and excellent direction made this a play to be remembered.

The play is set about three generations ago, in a post-Independence India. Javed Siddique succeeds beautifully in bringing out the transformations with the passage of time both in the country as well in the lives of the main characters. Set in Lucknow it succeeds in presenting through the letters the grandeur of Colonial Lucknow with its world of upper gharanas, a society of private schools and liberation, exclusive baithaks and thumris, old chests and family portraits, "Nawabs" and "Thakurs", solicitor exams and lazy afternoons on the swings.

But while the setting was so Indian, the ethos of the play was very American. It was about a woman Amrita, trying to find herself as a painter and as an independent thinker trying to make sense of a changing chaotic world. It was about two people, a Hindu woman Amrita and a Muslim man Zulfi exploring their relationships of over a span of 35 years during which they see success and suffering. I am not from Lucknow and hence quite unfamiliar with the lifestyles of "Nawabs" and "Thakurs" of yester years. But a lot of the play did not quite gel with my ideas people of that time. For example Zulfi urging Amrita to persue her career in art or Amrita moving to France as a single woman did not fit in with my ideas of Indian men and women in the 40s. But despite that Shabana and Farooq completely succeeded in drawing people into their characters. The entire play was very open, subtle and needed the audience to fill in a lot of blanks. I would have preferred the last letter to be as open ended as the rest of the play. But that did not quite happen. The last letter tied all ends together in a very Hindi filmy way. But all in all it was a superb presentation, which left a lasting impression on the audience.

About the event:

The event was extremely well organized. Over 800 people, many of the young Indian Americans came to support this event. Ramesh Kapur , the president of the Boston chapter of AIF welcomed everyone and talked about the various activities of AIF.AIF is working hard to make a difference in India. By developing India we are actually make an impact on global development because one out of every six human beings is Indian said Lakshmi Pratury , Director of the AIF foundation . Shabana and Farooq Shaikh came and personally met almost everyone in the audience. Nalini Goyal of Nalinis creations generously donated the lovely tables, which were used in the play. Shabana and Farooq autographed the tables and they were auctioned of as part of the fundraiser.

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