Sunday, September 5, 2010

One Night At An “Intellectual Centre!”


So, what comes to your mind when you hear ‘Prithvi Theatre’? 
A bunch of young struggling actors trying to get that one big break of their life? Or a crowded house full of intellectuals, striking up smart conversations? Or it brings to your mind nothing but the likes of Raj Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah and Boman Irani?



Prithvi Theatre is indeed much more than just that. I fell in love blindly and happily with the welcoming ambience on my very first evening at Prithvi. Staying in Mumbai for almost twenty years now had already acquainted me with the thespian finesse that the place has produced over the decades. To visit it was one of the myriad dreams that I nurtured for years. And it was the evening when my dream was about to come true, finally.

My first encounter with Prithvi was months back when I visited the theatre to watch the Peter Shaffer play, ‘Equus’ performed by a group of talented and creative enthusiasts. The excitement was inconceivable and I reached ‘THE PRITHVI THEATRE– The center of theatrical intelligentsia.’ I was welcomed by the classy lounge…Oh! I discovered later it was popularly called the Prithvi Café where often various book clubs have their private reading sessions and discussions. Moreover, you can simply grab a book or plug in the earphone, sit there and relax. I assure you from my personal experience...nobody will ever break your train of thoughts. So Prithvi gifts you the freedom of indulging in your thoughts for as long as you wish to.

Now, the time came to enter the theatre.

It’s not like one of those huge halls or auditoriums where there are enormous speakers installed at every nook and cranny and your ears are treated with the artificially processed voices of the artists. Here, it’s a cosy little auditorium where you have the liberty to sit wherever you wish to and you get to hear the unadulterated vocals creating magic for hours. The experience is like sitting next to the cream of theater under the same roof without discriminations. And, when the stage is set and the final whistle is blown, for the next couple of hours, the actors desire and indeed deserve your undivided attention. And, guess what? They do not ask for it, they simply command it with their splendiferous repertoires.
The performances are so memorable that even when the lights go off with the conclusion, you still wish for more. 


The Prithvi hangover tends to stay on longer than you expect it to stay. Eversince my first visit, I have made Prithvi my favorite escape and hang out. Everytime I feel low, I find myself browsing through the books at the small yet interesting Prithvi Book Shop…Everytime am truly happy, I wish to go to the prithvi lounge and sit there for hours… and as my culture studies professor puts it, there are indeed some of the cutest guys visiting the theater, so people, if plays and books do not interest you and you find no reason to visit the place, here’s the reason for you. Indeed, the Sulaimani chai over there is awesome and refreshing. Now, ‘Sulaimani Chai’ is a separate story altogether so I prefer saving it for another post, another day.

The simple understatement is that if you are a Mumbaikar or you are visiting Mumbai and wish to see one of the most prestigious possessions of Mumbai, do not ever miss THE PRITHVI THEATRE. Nowhere else will you find the perfect amalgamation of fun along with the overflowing talent which succeeds in casting a spell on you again and again.

35 comments:

  1. "splendiferous repertoires" - splendid indeed!!

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  2. so beautifully u hav put it...nd ech nd every thng u said is so true....i really loved it :).was gr88888888888888

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  3. lovely!! really cool!

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  4. @ Rrivu.... Am waiting for you to be here.... prithvi is the perfect place for you !

    @ Upashna.... I knew you guys would enjoy the PRITHVI plan !
    I have expressed my interest to Neha Ma'am regarding having such evenings more often!

    @ kay.... Do come the next time we go...

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  5. Cant believe that I and many people who grew up in Bombay have not been to Prithvi at all...with this post you not only do good to Prithvi, but also for the theater scene; which has picked up, but still has great potential to grow- good job AC, kudos

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  6. niceeeeeeeeee......(i jus wana ask....tu kitna likhati hai...."achi bachi"....)

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  7. @ soaham.... I liked the AC thing! :P
    Next time u come down...pls visit Prithvi...if not the theater..the book shop.. I must say..the place is highly addictive..coz i never was the theatre person before Prithvi!

    @ siddhi.. this post i wrote after almost 2 weeks i guess...
    i enjoy writing but afsos..am not taking up journalism... :P

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  8. Nxt time... don't miss any Prithvi eveningS!

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  9. it was stupendous nd fantabulous.......

    i assure that the day i place my footstep on the ground of MUMBAI ..........i will surely try to visit the famous "prithvi theatre"....................nd experience its inconceivable excitement...!!

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  10. we build too many walls nowadays! we should make people build more bridges instead.. bridges like Prithvi!

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  11. @ Mon... ooops! THE PIPER... that can be covered along with the Sulaimani chai !

    Indeeeed... it wud bridge the ever growing gap... between people and the theatre !

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  12. ohhh...i neva thot of goin der b4...
    ftr this reading this blog...nothin can stop me from goin der...wonderfully described...
    -nishith

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  13. Go there.. but u cant tk in ur digicam.. so if u wanna snap prithvi... then carry ur NIKON P100...n click without flash..else ur camera wud be confiscated !
    u should go.. when u come to play football at juhu...do visit the place!

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  14. awesome! (although i'm sad i missed it...)

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  15. hmm....nw evn im vry much xcited to visit d place atleast once and find out as to wad has made u so crazy and facinated abt....nxt tym wen u revisit, den DON FORGET ME...lolz..:)

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  16. @ Leanne.. indeed you missed it Bigtime...

    @ anupam.. haha..am going again to the book shop there this weekend i guess ! :P

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  17. nilav here..........and i loved it.......BTW, where is it.....???

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  18. Ask MON... its in JUHU ! Janki Kutir... next to hotel Four Seasons !

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  19. i've not been to prithvi theatre even though i stayed in bombay for more than a decade.....want u to take me there n comment while the show is on.....wenever next im in bombay....awesome article..

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  20. hahaha... sure sure... your prithvi outing is on me!!!!

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  21. Arundhati nw arrange a BUS for all of us yar....:P

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  22. Way to go arundhati!! gr8 stuff:)

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  23. nicely put together.....make a photo-blog soon....more of your work wid much more of your creative take on d language as well....awaiting badly and madly...muahs...<^_^> <3

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  24. @ supriya n anupam.. thank u thank u...

    @ gargi.. i ws wanting to make a photo blog where each photo would have a story... but then that might have too many subliminal msgs and hence, gave away the thought... will u write the stories for me ?
    then we cn jointly form the photo blog !

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  25. very nycly wrtn..!!! n the reasons to visit it r also awesome..!! ;) beautiful..!! :D

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  26. Again u hv written a superb article!
    Hats off to u..:)

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  27. And even i wanna go now to this theater after reading this amazing description abt this...

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  28. @ manisha... thank u thank u !! :) :)
    DO VISIT PRITHVI !

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  29. A place to unwind! and get creatively high

    But miss the old cafe menu!!

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  30. beautifully captured d essence of an enigmatic world......... the best part is you could never seem to be at a loss of words throughout and summed d entire thing into yet another classic attempt that surely qualifies itself to what we can say one of the upcoming contemporary writers of india.each of ur article gets better with the new 1,always a new feather in your cap,hopefully that cap is now full of feathers and you seem to look gud in it!hope you remember a guy who got lost somewhere due to his innocent stupidity,dont get on terms with him but that guy wants to tell you he always wishes the best 4 u!

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