Since its debut in 1913, George Bernard Shaw’s play ‘Pygmalion’ has inspired multiple adaptations on stage, in cinema, and also television. Zee Theatre’s teleplay ‘(LOVE),’ is a refreshingly different take on the classic story and will be screened on Tata Sky Theatre, all through this week.
Actor Rajeev Siddhartha who stars in the teleplay says, “(LOVE)’ is a futuristic adaptation of ‘Pygmalion’ and tells the story of a brilliant scientist and inventor who falls in love with his own creation. He has lived a life of isolation and is always busy with his own experiments. He has gone through a broken engagement and to spite his mother who is after him to get married, he creates a robot. It is so close to life that his mother actually mistakes it for a woman. As the teleplay progresses, an unusual bond develops between the creator and his creation and the audience realises that, ultimately love is the answer to everything.”
The role of the brooding scientist, says Rajeev was challenging because there is a perpetual air of sadness around him. However, he adds, “The process of understanding this character was also full of fun. As an actor, exploring the inner world of a character is very exciting. It also helped that I had a wonderful team of co-actors. Everyone working on the set got along very well and helped create an atmosphere that was very conducive for me to play this part. I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot.”
To prepare for his part thoroughly, Rajeev also went back to the source material and studied it. He says, “There are a lot of similarities between the original character and my character. There may be variations in our adaptation and a few nuances may be different as compared to the original text, still the foundation remains the same.”
The teleplay, he says, is primarily about the power of love and has been made with a lot of passion. He concludes, “This adaptation presents to you a classical play in a very modern format both in terms of the text and in the way it’s been shot. I think the audience will definitely enjoy this new-age version of ‘Pygmalion.’’
‘(LOVE)’ is directed by Karan Talwar and also stars Yuki Ellias, Shivam Patil, Sonali Sachdev, Payal Nair, Nandini Sen, Priti Shroff and Suhani Gandhi.
