The Right Mix

How do men and women relate to each other? What are the dynamics between a man and a woman and does it change with different situations? Books have been written and movies have been made in an attempt to answer these timeless questions. The touring theatre production, 'Salt and Pepper' explores similar themes and takes a closer look at men and women in modern times.

The production has already travelled to Kolkata and Mumbai and is coming to Pune with performances on November 3 and 4 at Ishanya Mall. The cast is also travelling to Gurgaon, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad to complete their seven-city tour. Using conversations, meetings with strangers and even imaginary conversations, 'Salt and Pepper' takes the audience through the darker side of people and the subtle equation between men and women.

In an almost crash course-like fashion, 'Salt and Pepper' swiftly takes the audience through ten stories about ten different couples – all in ten minutes each. Every story is independently portrayed in turns by Mandira Bedi and Darshan Jariwalla, and Kuki Grewal and Vikram Kochhar. "The title 'Salt and Pepper' indicates both the range of stories we have covered and the ages of the couples we portray. My roles for example are of men between 40 to 75 years. One character is a man who is strapped into a booth on a giant wheel with an absolute stranger. In that awkward setting, the man and woman befriend each other eventually. Another character finds a woman attempting suicide and he then talks her out of it," says Jariwalla.

While Jariwalla and Bedi are depicting the older pairs, Kochhar and Grewal are playing the roles of younger pairs between 18 to 30 years. "Our roles are younger and so there are lots of funny stories which will make you laugh. At the same time. Some of our stories are quite emotional, such as the story of two lonely Mumbai professionals speed dating, or a married couple going for counselling sessions. The stories that are being told are very beautiful," says Grewal, who has featured on television shows such as 'Rishta.com' in the past. Her stage debut with this production, she says, is very different from what she has been doing. "I never thought I'd be getting into theatre this early but now that I have, I can imagine myself doing more such projects," she adds.

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