Not all fathers are as expressive as our Sexy Sam (read Amitabh Bachchan ’s character in KANK), when it comes to conveying their  feelings to their children, but this does not mean that they care any less for us. Highlighting this aspect was ‘Shraddha’ a play  directed by Vinayak Joshi.

The crisp award winning play staged in the memory of  VJ’s father Vasudeva Joshi, was not only emotionally stimulating but also thought provoking.

‘Shraddha’ set in the 1950s, beautifully captured the father-son bond. From `my father is the best...’, `he needs to change with the times....’, `how does mom put up with him...’, `he is my best enemy’ to the `I got him wrong’.. phase, the Kannada play traces the emotional rollercoaster ride that a father-son relationship is.
The play, replete with humour, mirrors the relationship at times when there used to be hardly any direct communication between the two and when they communicated through the mother. The play centres around a father who prefers to maintain a ‘distance’ from his son only to instill discipline in him and a son, who yearns for a more friendlier relationship.

The son (in the later part of the play) recalls on the day of his father’s death ceremony, how his (father’s) true feelings towards him came out when he (son)  was leaving for a far off city in search of work and how he had misinterpreted his father. Start understanding and loving your parents before it is too late, is the message that this play carries and looks like it made the desired impact for VJ says that after watching the play a person,who had not spoken to his father for years due to personal reasons, had established a connect with him. A standing ovation that the cast got at Ranga Shankara, where the play was staged, spoke a lot too.

Music by Kannada band ‘Chiguru’ and performances by Vasanth Shastri, Sripathi Sirihalli, Vinod Krishnaraju, VJ, Siju Daniel and Neeta added to the intensity of the play written by Srinivas Vaidya.