BENAGLURU: Reunions always have a special place in our hearts. While many might term stories of people growing apart and finding their way back years later as a cliche, most people yearn for it; to connect with who they used to be and go back to the familiarity of carefree laughter with people they grew up with. Bringing this sense of nostalgia and yearning to stage for the first time in Bengaluru, is the renowned director of Mismatched fame, Akarsh Khurana with his 80th production This Time.
“The story is centred around a college reunion and a lot of people who have passed out 20 years ago are coming back to reconnect. The protagonists are two people who used to date each other and don’t know that the other is coming. The spine of the story is what happens when they meet,” says Khurana, adding, “The play is about nostalgia and growing up and how things change over time.”
The concept of This Time germinated from Khurana’s long-standing desire to explore the dynamics of a college reunion. “I have been wanting to do a college reunion for a very long time. I thought that it’s such a wonderful setting for a play. But I was not finding the right story to tell. Then a friend of mine who has been doing research on the concept of time shared some insights which had to do with how cultures study time and the importance they give to time and clocks. A lot of ideas started marinating in my head,” explains the writer-director, who thought that this concept could perfectly blend with the setting of a reunion.
Khurana acknowledges that he has ‘taken experience from his past’, saying, “I’m from St Xavier’s College, Bombay and in my head, the play is set there. A lot of the characters, whether it is the faculty or friends, are inspired from people I know. But the six actors have also brought a lot of their own references and experiences to the play.” He further highlights that while his former production The F Word was ‘a tribute to families’, This Time is more of ‘a tribute to exes’. While the play draws on his experiences, he also says that a lot has come from his imagination. The protagonists are a futurologist and a museum curator. “I don’t know any futurologists,” laughs Khurana, pointing out, “Their chosen professions, that is, one studies the future and the other has chosen to look into the past, puts a contrast in the tension between the two human beings.”
While it might look like a romantic comedy on the surface, Khurana says it talks about a lot of ‘people things’. “In totality, it is about the pros and cons of nostalgia. There is merit in holding on to the past, but there’s also a downside. It’s a very interesting take on growing up and almost like a coming-of-age story for middle-aged people,” he adds.
The play essentially mirrors his own journey, exploring the dichotomy of clinging to the past while facing the uncertainties of the future. “I’m 44 today and when you are approaching this age, whether you call it midlife crisis or anything else, it is about looking back at the past, because it holds certain memories for you; the future is a bit uncertain, and you’re stuck in the middle,” shares Khurana candidly. The director has finished the third season of Mismatched and is currently working on its post production. “Now that my shoot is over, I’m focusing on taking our plays across the country,” signs-off Khurana.
(This Time will be staged on May 9 and 10; 7.30pm at Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar)