Akarsh Khurana on ‘This Time’: ‘You are always coming of age’

Mumbai-based writer, director, Akarsh Khurana brings his play, ‘This Time’ to Bengaluru

Akvarious Productions, Mumbai, brings This Time to Bengaluru. Written and directed by Akarsh Khurana, the nostalgic comedy is the troupe’s 80th play. Akarsh is the founder of the 24-year-old Akvarious Productions and is the son of the veteran theatre and cinema actor Akash Khurana.

Akvarious has staged plays in every genre and language, with some nominated for the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards. Akarsh is also a film director, who has written screenplays for films like Krrish besides directing web sketches, cineplays, and a television movie (Real FM).

The play is predominantly in English with a fair amount of Hindi, says Akarsh over phone from Mumbai. “It’s our latest production and we staged it on November 23 in Mumbai and Bengaluru is the first city we are travelling to with this play. The play is set at a college reunion, where the protagonists meet after almost two decades.“

Things between the protagonists, who were in a relationship had not ended well, says Akarsh. “They are both not looking forward to seeing the other. They go to the reunion thinking the other is not coming. The play revolves around these two people, a walk down memory lane, ending up with a larger theme of nostalgia, how things and people change with time.”

This Time, Akarsh says is also about growing up. “You end up having problems whether you are 18 or 40. No matter what age you are at, you are always coming of age.”

The director, has made films like Karwaan and Rashmi Rocket and has co-written two seasons of Tripling. Last year he directed Jugaadistan for Lionsgate Play and the second season of Mismatched for Netflix, which is currently in production for Season 3.

The onset of mid-life crisis, the pros and cons of nostalgia and the very concept of time are the other themes This Time deals with, Akarsh says. “Time changes things and is a powerful force in itself. That is depicted through the characters. For instance, there is a contrast in the two principal characters, with one being a futurologist, and the other a museum curator who has dedicated her life to the study of the past.”