Dear Father at North Shore Performing Arts Center

Rawal, a veteran Bollywood actor who most recently starred in “Himmatwala,” returned to the stage with a Hindi play delving into family secrets and the illusion of happiness. The two-act play stars Rawal in a double role of aging father and suspicious police inspector. Also starring in “Dear Father” is Mrinmayee Godbole and Chetan Dhanani.

A three-plus hour production, “Dear Father” is a story of the Mankad family, which includes Manu the father (Rawal), his son Ajay (Dhanani), and wife/daughter-in-law Alka (Oak).
During the first act, the Mankad family appear to live ho-hum lives. Sure, there are a fair share of arguments and tussles between father and the married couple, with Ajay and Alka jointly squabbling with the elder Manu about his habit of randomly picking phone numbers from the obituary column and calling up the sons of the deceased just to have a chat.

Through the dialogue and a series of skits, nothing seems out of the ordinary for the Mankad family, with Rawal’s comedic talents keeping the audience entertained whilst moving the story forward. Early on, “Dear Father” drew many laughs with the common comical target of a “generation gap.” Indeed, the interplay between a father and a pair of thirty-somethings who believe the elder generation truly does not understand life not only brought out the best of Rawal but also helped keep the audience connected to both the characters and storyline.

In addition to the generation gap, “Dear Father” also pokes fun at marriage, technology, paying bills, and other affairs commonly associated with daily urban life.

However, when Manu and his son Ajay have a not-so-friendly conversation at the end of Act One, the story takes a dramatic turn and goes underneath the veil to discover the secrets no one wants revealed.

It is in Act Two where we see Rawal taking on his second role as a police inspector who questions Ajay, an attorney, and Alka, a math professor, of Manu’s whereabouts. The inspector comes up with several theories to explain why Manu had gone missing, even contemplating whether the elder Mankad had untimely met his death at the hands of his son or daughter-in-law.

When Manu ultimately reappears, the message of “Dear Father” is made apparent: while it is easy for us to become too involved with the rat race and become self-absorbed with our work schedules and social callings, we should never forget to give a fair share of proper attention and love to our senior citizens.

“Dear Father” is based on the award-winning play “Katkon Trikon”. In addition to appearing in many Gujarati plays, Rawal has many Bollywood films to his credit, including “Paa,” “De Dana Dan,” “36 China Town,” “Hera Pheri,” “Malamaal Weekly,” and “Garam Masala.” He has also won several awards, including a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards, and an IIFA Best Comedian Award.