Bollywood stars descend on stage to bring you a hilarious comedy play - The Blue Mug play

A comical theatrical sketch, The Blue Mug play is set to reshape the experience of dramatics across the world. After scintillating performance in ‘Wake Up Sid!’, Konkona Sen Sharma comes on stage in this rib-tickling comedy play with Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sheeba Chadha & Munish Bharadwaj. Mediasphere, a leading marketing and event management firm along with their partner Shailja Productions, chaperons this glittering star crew of contemporary Bollywood actors to their first International Tour in April & May this year, summing up 20 shows traversing three countries after performances in India.

An experimental production from Mumbai’s The Company Theatre, The Blue Mug play, “is a creation of one story of ‘The man who mistook his wife for a hat’ by Oliver Sacks” describes Atul Kumar, founder and artistic director of the group who is at the helm of the production. With no written script, no props, no fancy costumes, this long-running theatre production creates a laugh riot as the artists narrate memories. Atul admits "It wasn't easy in the beginning to have them open up to the audience but the actors are my old friends who have worked with me before." The director adds that slowly the cast learned to play themselves on stage.

Rajat Kapoor wears many artistic hats – actor, director, model, writer – and has made a mark in Indian theatre and cinema which audiences and critics have applauded every time. A three times National Award winner for his Film Direction, Rajat has been pivotal to the changing trends of small budget films in Bollywood. In The Blue Mug play, he goes down the path of personal memories to depict the larger canvas of Indian memory.

One of the finest film actors in India with two National Awards for performances in ‘Omkara’ and ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’, Konkana Sen Sharma continues to explore the commercial as well as experimental cinema. Konkana has portrayed diverse roles in ‘Luck By Chance’, ‘Life in a Metro’ and ‘Aaja Nachle’, but she is visibly excited about her performance in The Blue Mug play. “It is lovely. I have good fun being on stage,” says Konkona.

Vinay Pathak has never been typecast into any particular role. From essaying the role of the common man caught up in strange situations and managing to show us the funny side of life in movies like ‘Bheja Fry’ to a criminal mastermind in ‘Johnny Gaddar’ to the goofy friend in ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, Vinay has essayed a mélange of roles in his career.

Describing his performance in The Blue Mug play, "The fact that we play our own set of characters is exciting." Vinay Pathak who has already won much applause from the audience adds, “I enjoy working in this play a great deal. These guys are great friends and it has been a lot of fun.”

Like Vinay, Ranvir Shorey is a maverick of sorts, and is known for a gamut of roles, each removed from the other. From his portrayal of a common man caught up in the murky world of the underworld in ‘Mithya’ to a goofy sidekick in ‘Bheja Fry’ and the aggressive younger brother in ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’, he has managed to provide eminence to off-beat cinema. Ranvir feels, “A live act is a very different medium as compared to cinema. You face a live audience and do not get the privilege of another take.”

The chemistry between these actors lends fresh wit to the play, something which is rarely instituted in conventional theatre. The Blue Mug play premieres in Mumbai on February 20 followed by shows across India, Dubai, Muscat, Brazil, New York, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Austin and Raleigh until May, 2010.

The Global Promoters for The Blue Mug play, Mediasphere & Shailja Productions are paving a new path in multicultural media, bringing a unique construct of entertainment. Shruti Tiwari, the brainchild of Mediasphere discloses, “We will use social media tools to tap the widespread audience. The Blue Mug play is only an initiatory step of Mediasphere’s expansion in these three countries.”

A one-stop-shop for integrated media and marketing solutions, Mediasphere is the pioneer of exploring South Americas, revealing an untapped market of Indian ethnicity in the region.

To view photos or clips from previous performance, or learn more about the production, please visit TheBlueMugPlay.com.