Gaurav Jakhu, associate professor of economics at IIM Bengaluru, founded the theatre company, Talab in 2022. His latest production, a reimagination of the myth ofNala Damayanti is scheduled to be performed at Bangalore International Centre, on October 4. 

Gaurav, who plays the antagonist, Kali, has written and directed the Hindi mythological play that tells the love story between King Nala and his wife Damayanti.

The play came to Gaurav after two months of research on the story. “Before writing the script, I had to figure out how to make it relatable to today’s audience. I used a mixture of prose and verse to enhance the emotion in the dialogues.”

Some dialogues work work better as lyrics while other emotions are best conveyed through dialogues.”

Talking about why he chose the tale of Nala Damayanti, Gaurav says, “Even if the story is a part of The Mahabharata written centuries ago, it has all the emotions we connect with today — love, loss, separation and resilience. I felt contemporary audiences would relate to these emotions.”

Gaurav’s passion for theatre began while he was in college and even though it can be challenging to balance his profession and passion, he continues to pursue the art form.

Imran Pasha and Rashmi Vadavi play Nala and Damayanti. The team is immensely proud of the original background score composed by Sameer Kulkarini, with movement choreography by Anil Iyer.

Rashmi says, “In many movies and books, women bring in the glamour. In this play, however, Damayanti is strong and determined. It is not just a love story; it is also a fight within herself. She is vulnerable, but at the same time displays immense strength, both physical and mental.”

Imran adds, “Nala has to play with a lot of emotions; he has gone through many phases in life and has so much to express — love, anger, grief and more. I am lucky I was chosen to play this character.”

Talking about his theatre company, Gaurav says, “Talab is focused on creating original stories; we focus on creating stories from scratch and writing our own plays.”

Prithvi Venugopal, light and effect designer, says they created the effects in such a way that everyone who watches the play feels connected to the story. Audiences can expect a reimagined tale of Nala Damayanti as a struggle between true love and Kali.

Nala Damayanti will be staged on October 4, at 7pm at Bangalore International Centre, Domlur. Tickets starting at ₹300 are available on BookMyShow.