The new play Siachen is a heartwarming tale of hope and survival

From the play Siachen premiered at Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The temperature is way below zero, the sound of recurring thunder reverberates in the air, and breathing gets difficult at times. Three Indian soldiers are stuck on a lone spot atop the Siachen glacier, after a catastrophic blizzard has devastated the region. There’s no news from base, and their desperation multiplies.

A fictional tale about survival and hope, Siachen also raises questions about the necessity of conflict. The play has been written by Aditya Rawal, son of actors Paresh Rawal and Swaroop Sampat, and directed by seasoned theatre personality Makarand Deshpande. Originally penned in English, it has been translated into Hindi by Raghav Dutt.

Siachen was premiered at Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre on June 15, with five more shows held in the first run. Zahan Kapoor, son of actor Kunal Kapoor and grandson of Shashi Kapoor, plays the role of commanding officer Lieutenant Tanmoy Bose. Stuck with him are Subedar Shabbir Naqvi (Niketan Sharma) and Anthony D’Souza (Chitransh Pawar).

The story is set in Siachen, the highest and coldest battlefield, located on the Indo-Pak border. After the blizzard, the accompanying doctor has passed away, and the three soldiers are left stranded. All efforts by Shabbir to communicate with base fail, and the three spend time speaking to each other about their past. Anthony talks about how a girl was impressed by the fact that he was in the armed forces, a relationship briefly depicted through a flashback. Likewise, Shabbir keeps reading letters written by his wife. Though Tanmoy is the leader of the trio, ordering his juniors to give him the respect his position commands, there are implications that he is actually a coward by nature.

The three men keep talking to each other, while simultaneously trying to seek help, without luck. There’s a twist in the tale when they briefly separate, and Anthony suddenly slips. He’s hanging on to a rope, and Shabbir hears of his situation. Unable to pull him back and save him, Shabbir decides to cut the rope, so that Anthony can have an honourable death. Tanmoy is unhappy to hear this, more because Anthony had once saved his life by killing an enemy soldier who had attacked him.

This is where Tanmoy announces that he had joined the army at the insistence of his father, a senior officer, and that he himself is averse to any kind of bloodshed or violence. Meanwhile, the Anthony incident haunts Shabbir, leading to fresh twists in the dramaturgy.

While following the fate of Tanmoy and Shabbir, the play raises the question about why, in reality, so much money was spent and so many soldiers were sent to Siachen, even though nobody has fired a single bullet in the region following the ceasefire. It also looks at the mindset, behaviour and helplessness of a soldier in trying circumstances.

Though the tone of the play is serious, there are the occasional witty remarks and farcical moments. In one of the dialogues, the conflict over Siachen has been compared to “two bald men fighting over a comb”. The portion involving Shabbir’s wife and her alleged closeness to his brother was unnecessary.

The production is brilliant. The costumes show the trio in white warm clothing and boots to depict the cold weather, and it’s to the credit of the cast that they didn’t look too uncomfortable under all those layers. The set had a large translucent white cloth shaped like a mountain, hung at the back of the stage. There are tables to depict the placement of ration and beverages, one bed at the side and radio gear for communication. Ajay Jayanthi’s music matches the situations.

Playing the commanding officer, Zahan Kapoor is natural, especially when he is gasping for breath. He and writer Aditya Rawal acted together in Hansal Mehta’s 2022 film Faraaz, based on a terror attack in Dhaka, and that was where their friendship grew. As the other armymen, Niketan Sharma and Chitransh Pawar are effective, with the former shining in moments of frustration. Besides the writer, a large chunk of the credit would go to director Makrand, who has handled the difficult subject well. We have seen numerous war films and documentaries, but the theme requires a totally different approach in theatre. That’s where Makrand Deshpande’s dedication and stage experience become evident.