Kirdaar review: When an artiste becomes too obsessed with his art

Playwright VV Shirwadkar’s classic play Natsamrat dealt with the difficulties borne by the family of a theatre artiste when he or she gets too involved with the art. Dr Shreeram Lagoo perfected the character in the 1980s, followed by many others, including Nana Patekar in Mahesh Manjrekar’s film version, Natsamrat - Asa Nat Hone Nahi (2018).

Director Swati Semwal’s short film Kirdaar reminds you of Natsamrat somewhere [this is not to say that it is the same as the play]. The film is about the theatre actor Aman (Mukesh Chhabra), who is hell bent on getting his act in his next play perfect.

In the play, Aman is playing a man with feminine characteristics and he is struggling to get his act right. The obsession to essay the character with finesse forces him to behave weirdly with his wife Aditi (Pooja Gor). Aditi also gets tense as the day of the performance nears.

Kirdaar initially appears like the story of a man confused about his gender after he plays a woman on stage often — a theme well-explored in the Kannada film Harikatha Prasanga. But thankfully, the subject turns out to be different.

The state of mind of the protagonist is presented in a mature manner — except for the moment when the wife tells her friend how finicky he gets before a performance, there is hardly any use of words to narrate the condition of both characters.

But just when you think the story is over, there comes a dramatic and scary twist in the end. Through this we realize that the real test before every performance is that of the character of the wife, which, unfortunately, nobody knows as the actor walks away with all the applause. The background score adds to the thrilling effect.

Chhabra, the famous casting director, goes into the skin of a psychotic actor with perfection. He also shines in the scenes where he had to behave feminine. Gor is remarkable as she speaks more through expressions.

The only glitch here is that we are not told about Aman’s actual profession. Surely one can’t lead an upper middle-class life by just doing one Hindi drama show in few weeks.