Mareez (play)
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''Mareez'' is a 2004 biographical play about mid-twentieth century Gujarati poet
Mareez Abbas Abdul Ali Vasi (22 February 1917 – 19 October 1983), known popularly as Mareez, was an Indian poet of Gujarati language, mainly popular for his Ghazals. He is popularly known as '' Ghalib of Gujarat''. He left studies in young age and ...
, written by Vinit Shukla and directed by Manoj Shah. One of Shah's long-running productions, it premiered on 16 November 2004 at Prithvi Theatre,
Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...
.


Background

Directed by Manoj Shah and written by Vinit Shukla, the play narrates the life of Mareez. The play has been adapted by the author from Mareez's biography ''Mareez: Astitva Ane Vyaktitva'' (2001) written by Raeesh Maniar. The representation of Mareez has been influenced by
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
's autobiographical work ''Dear Theo'' and
Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...
's biopic '' Barfly''. The set features six paintings painted by Gulam Mohammed Sheikh. The play premiered on 16 November 2004 at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai.


Cast and characters

The original cast included: *Dharmendra Gohil as Mareez *Nayan Shukla as Mohsin, Mareez's son *Ishan Doshi as young Mohsin *Kumkum Das as Sona, Mareez's wife *Jay Upadhaya as Thakur *Aishwarya Mehta as Rabab, Mareez's girlfriend *Dayashamkar Pandey as Saadat Hasan Manto * Darshan Pandya as Indra *Pulkit Solanki *
Pratik Gandhi Pratik Gandhi (born 28 April 1980) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi films, theater, and television. He is best known for portraying Harshad Mehta in the Sony LIV biographical series ''Scam 1992'' ( ...
*Rajive Bhatt *Shamath Mazumdar *Akash Desai *Hussaini Davawala *Pradeep Vegurlekar *Ashok Parmar *Dhruv Dave


Reception

''Mareez'' is one of Shah's long-running productions. Utpal Bhayani was impressed by Dharmendra Gohil's acting and called "Mareez was in his veins". He also praised director and writer for connecting Mareez with Manto and Ghalib. He also praised performances of Dayashankar Pande, Nayan Shukla and Kumkum Das. He also praised costumes, production, music, audios, backdrops and lighting. He found Mareez's '' Mushairas'' with other poets from which he became well known, missing from the play. Deepa Punjani of ''Mumbai Theatre Guide'' praised the performances, direction, writing and production. She found the presentation of various phases of Mareez's life interesting and engaging. She found the "drama of Mareez's life indulgent" but found the play "fresh" and important for literature and performance. Journalist Ashish Vashi praised Dharmendra Gohil's performance and called it "most remarkable and mesmerizing aspect of the play". In May 2023, Mohsin and Lalua, sons of Mareez, issued public notice regarding the lack of consent from them for the play. They sought compensation as the owners of intellectual property rights of Mareez. They had objected to the fictional events as well as private events from their father's life portrayed in the play.


References

{{reflist 2004 plays Biographical plays about writers Gujarati-language plays Plays set in the 20th century Plays set in India Plays based on books Cultural depictions of Indian people Cultural depictions of poets