A Marathi play premieres in Hinglish

When Sonali Kulkarni took up the role of the female protagonist in the Marathi play, White Lily aani Night Rider, she did so to pay tribute to actor Rasika Joshi, whose works she admired and loved. She had no idea of whether or not she would be able to step into the shoes of Joshi, who wrote the play along with Milind Pathak. Today, she has not only managed to retain the play's charm, and wow audiences everywhere, but on April 12, the actress with co-star Pathak, will also open the play for non-Marathi audiences, in Hinglish.

Sonali Kulkarni and Milind Pathak

"Wherever we performed, there was always this group of non-Marathi speaking people who seemed lost, and were unable to follow the jokes. So, we decided to launch a Hinglish version," explains Kulkarni. Treading on the fine line between the virtual and the real worlds, White Lily and Night Rider, is more than just a comment on social networking sites. It explores the changing dynamics of relationships in the Indian society in a comical way. Naturally, making the transition from Marathi to Hinglish was a bit difficult, especially when it came to translating the original jokes and punches as written by Joshi.

"She was a fantastic actor and a great writer. We wanted to retain the spirit of the play, as had been written by her. But when it came to translating the jokes and punch lines from Marathi to English, we couldn't find any replacements. So, we had to write a few new lines, ourselves. But that's the only major change that has happened," shares Kulkarni.