Indrani Mukerjea, Dolly Thakore Attend Bharat Dabholkar-Damini Chopra Starrer Jigsaw

Despite it being one of the busy Ganpati visarjan days, it was a full house at the NCPA Experimental Theatre on Sunday for the premiere show of Jigsaw, the new psychological thriller play starring theatre veteran Bharat Dabholkar and actor Damini Chopra of Saaho and Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein fame, produced by Ashvin Gidwani’s AGP World. Former media personality turned theatre producer Indrani Mukerjea and theatre stalwart Dolly Thakore were among the guests, along with other names from Mumbai's theatre and entertainment circles. Set over a single evening, Jigsaw brings Ranvijay (Dabholkar) face to face with Ayra (Chopra), the troubled wife of a wealthy businessman, inside an isolated house on a rain-soaked night. What begins as a casual conversation takes an unsettling turn as buried truths surface, leaving the audience questioning who is hiding something and who is really in control. Dabholkar, who has written and directed around 35 plays across comedy, satire and musicals, also directs Jigsaw - his first outing in the thriller genre. Chopra, who has worked across Hindi cinema and streaming, modelled the unpredictable Ayra on Rosamund Pike. The play held the room from the first scene to the last. Just as the audience settled on a version of events, another revelation arrived to undo it, and the two characters kept swapping the upper hand until the final moments. Laughter, gasps and a long silence before the applause suggested the twists landed exactly as intended.